Travis Green gets the Ottawa Senators to move on from the past

Ottawa Senators Head Coach Travis Green speaks with an official from the bench during first period NHL hockey action in Ottawa, on Monday, Oct. 13, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

OTTAWA — Travis Green isn’t one to talk about himself, but there’s no denying the impact the coach has had on the Ottawa Senators.

With four games remaining in the regular season. Green has the Senators clinging to the final wild-card playoff spot in the Eastern Conference after posting three impressive wins against some of the East’s top teams.

The Senators beat the Buffalo Sabres, Carolina Hurricanes and Tampa Bay Lightning — all battling to win the Eastern Conference — in a span of six days.

Ottawa (41-27-10) broke a 1-1 game open in the third period to beat the Lightning 6-2 on Tuesday.

Green, now in his second season behind Ottawa’s bench, pointed to Tampa Bay as one of the NHL’s elite teams.

“If you’re going to use measuring sticks, Tampa Bay is right at the top of the list or close to it,” said Green.

“They just win, all the time, and it’s been that way for a while. They do it in a lot of different ways. They adapt to the game. They don’t just win with skill either. They play a hard game, they play a heavy game. If you’re not willing to play hard and heavy, you’re not going to win.”

Under Green’s leadership, the Senators have developed a comfort and confidence playing in tight games.

“We’ve learned a lot,” said Senators captain Brady Tkachuk. “Every day this year, it’s an opportunity to learn, opportunity to grow and this is the time of the year where we’re showing it and showing all that growth and lessons learned. Job’s not done. We still have some very important moments, very important games coming up and we’ll be ready.”

When Green took over the Senators last season, the team had missed the playoffs seven straight seasons. They were viewed as talented but lacking structure.

Green and his coaching staff set out to change that by overhauling the defensive system and instilling a sense of accountability.

Green felt the Senators started to buy in and shed its past reputation during his first season with them. He felt the team tended to dwell on previous setbacks and spent too much time looking in the rear-view mirror.

“There were some times, I think that would have been about November, December, where ‘coming-to’ moments that you talk about and emotional moments with your team, you don’t have a lot of those during the year, but there’s that time probably where they had to move forward and really dig in and live in the moment and live in the present,” he said.

Jake Sanderson, who scored twice against Tampa, credited Green for helping the Senators get to where they are.

“Honestly, ever since Travis came, he just taught us the right way how to play hockey the winning way,” said Sanderson. “It’s not fancy, may not be fun all the time.

“It’s tiring, but he understands that so he gives us the rest when we need it, so we have the energy to go out and play that way every single night.”

The Senators need to play that way in their last four games of the regular season as the margin for error is slim.

Ottawa held a two-point lead on the Columbus Blue Jackets and three on the Detroit Red Wings and New York Islanders.

The Lightning also have a lot to play for with the Atlantic Division title up for grabs.

“They’re desperate to get in the playoffs,” said Tampa’s Jon Cooper. “For us, we’re a playoff team. We’re just not playing like one right now. We only have a couple games to figure it out and see where we land.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 7, 2026

Lisa Wallace, The Canadian Press