Senators superstars including Brady Tkachuk, Dylan Cozens react as Ottawa clinches playoff spot after 7 years

The Ottawa Senators qualified for the playoffs on Tuesday despite losing to the Columbus Blue Jackets. This marked the first time the franchise has made it to the postseason in seven years.

The Senators, who have a 42-30-6 record this season and are currently on 90 points for the season, sealed a wild-card spot after the Detroit Red Wings’ 4-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens. With only five games left, the Red Wings and New York Rangers can only reach a maximum points tally of 89 this season.

Many Senators players and fans took to social media to react to the good news.

Team captain Brady Tkachuk shared a special video commemorating the Senators’ achievement on Instagram.

"Let's Go!!!!!!!" Tkachuk captioned the post.

“Here we goooo!!!!” Center Dylan Cozens reacted while sharing the same video.

“LFG!!” Defenseman Thomas Chabot wrote in the caption.

(Credit: IG/@bradytkachuk, @dylan.cozens, @thomaschabot5)

Other Senators players who shared the same video included goalie Linus Ullmark and forward Tim Stutzle.

“TICKET PUNCHED!! BILLET OBTENU!! #GoSensGo,” the caption read.

“Now that it's confirmed, obviously we still got some games to play, but I think the entire group is just freaking fired up. We're just excited to get in. We can't wait to go,” Chabot told the NHL website.

The Senators overtook teams like the Blue Jackets and Detroit Red Wings in their search for a playoff spot. After halting a five-game skid at the beginning of March, the Senators have won 13 of their 20 games since. This includes two crucial victories against the Blue Jackets and Red Wings and one against the Rangers. All three teams were in the mix for a wild-card spot during the last three months.

Senators coach Travis Green lauds his players for their achievement

The Senators lost 5-2 to the Blue Jackets on Tuesday, which allowed Columbus to avoid mathematical elimination. However, the Montreal Canadiens have an eight-point gap in the second wild-card spot and need only three more points from four games to clinch the final playoff spot in the East.

Senators coach Travis Green congratulated his players for making the playoffs.

“Wish it was coming off a win, but very excited for our team, our players, our fans, and proud of our players,” Green said via NHL. “They deserve to be in the playoffs this year. It's something that we talked about as a group really all summer, having a training camp, and where we wanted to be at this time of year.”

The Senators are four points behind the Florida Panthers, who are third in their division.