 In 1919 , the Metropolitans made it to the finals for the second time in three years , this time against the Montreal Canadiens . The series was to have been a five @-@ game series , but the fourth game ended in a scoreless draw . However , local health officials called off the deciding sixth game just hours before it was due to start when several players on both teams were stricken by Spanish flu . With virtually his entire team either hospitalized or confined to bed and efforts to find replacements vetoed by the PCHA , Canadiens owner George Kennedy announced he was forfeiting the <unk> the <unk> Seattle . However , Muldoon felt it would be unsportsmanlike to accept what would have been his second Cup , seeing as it would have been at the expense of a team decimated by illness . Seattle lost in the Stanley Cup finals in the next year against the Ottawa Senators . 
