Game 1 of Senators-Hurricanes set for Saturday afternoon

Game 1 of Senators-Hurricanes set for Saturday afternoon

One of the sticking points was the start date of Ottawa’s series against the Hurricanes. It took time to find a resolution. Will Senators and Habs play on the same day?

With three Canadian teams in the playoffs — including the Montreal Canadiens and Edmonton Oilers — the only request that Sportsnet made to the NHL’s head office was that the Senators and Habs not play on the same day. Why? Both teams play in the East and, if the club’s games were scheduled at the same time, it would hurt ratings for the network across the country.

We believe the NHL told Sportsnet it would try to honour that request, but made no guarantees until it was learned that the Habs couldn’t start their series against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday because the building wasn’t available on Saturday. We’re also told that Sportsnet wanted a Canadian team to play at night, but that must have fallen on deaf ears. The Dallas Stars will face the Minnesota Wild at 5:30 p.m.

and the Philadelphia Flyers will take on the Pittsburgh Penguins at 8 p.m. The Senators were always operating under the impression that they would play on Saturday afternoon, so the start time won’t bother them but it took some heavy lifting to get here. This hasn’t made planning easy for the Senators.

If the club had known earlier that it will be starting the series on Saturday afternoon, the Senators might have packed their bags on Thursday to skate in Raleigh on Friday because they wouldn’t be able to take a morning skate. Instead, the Senators will be on the ice at the Canadian Tire Centre on Friday and then fly to Carolina in the afternoon.