The Ottawa Senators lost a nail-biter on Saturday night, their 4-3 shootout loss leaving the Montreal Canadiens two points up in the clubs' battle for the Atlantic Division title.

Though the match featured its fair share of drama, and a full 65 minutes plus a shootout to decide, Senators head coach Guy Boucher wasn't impressed.

It's not that it wasn't an intriguing one, but the theatrics were far from the level Ottawa will see once the regular season concludes.

"Playoffs - I know what it is," Boucher said after the loss, according to Sportsnet's Eric Engels. "I've lived it to the seventh game of the conference finals. It's something different than this."

Boucher would know, as the 2011 conference finals run he referenced - which came during his time with the Tampa Bay Lightning - was about as tumultuous as they come.

First up was a seven-game battle with the Pittsburgh Penguins, who at the time were just one season removed from a Stanley Cup. An absurdly close 1-0 win - on the road, no less - decided the series in the final tilt.

That gave Boucher's club Alex Ovechkin and the then-top-seeded Washington Capitals, who Tampa Bay rolled over and swept in four quick decisions.

Then, finally, another seven-game grind, this time against the Boston Bruins - the eventual champs. Another 1-0 contest decided the series, again on the road, though this time it was the Lightning's opponent that claimed the series-clinching victory.

Needless to say, the Senators' division-title battles don't quite compare.

"Everybody’s getting excited for first place (in the division), and I keep saying it's not a positive thing," Boucher said. "It's a match where we're trying to play our best so we shouldn't be changing our focus. Focusing on the division doesn’t help us.

"We want to make the playoffs, no matter who we're playing."

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