Ottawa has reached the 20-game mark and it’s time to take stock and see how the team has performed. The Sens went 6-3-1 (identical to the previous ten games) which puts them 4th in the conference and they remain 2nd in the division. Their 48 goals for is eighth in the conference and their 37 goals against is second. Ottawa’s powerplay dropped to 17th overall (16.7%); they continue to have the 3rd best penalty killing in the league (88.0%) while being the 8th most penalized team; they have the 5th best 5-on-5 goals for/against ratio (1.26).
Player’s stats (INJ=games missed due to injury, SCR= scratched, SUS=suspended, AHL=games in the AHL):
Colin Greening 9-2-3-5 -1 TOI 13:46 SCR 1
Daniel Alfredsson 10-2-3-5 +1 TOI 18:28
Erik Condra 10-2-2-4 +3 TOI 13:55
Jakob Silfverberg 10-1-3-4 +2 TOI 15:50
Mika Zibanejad 9-1-2-3 +3 TOI 12:59 SCR 1
Kyle Turris 10-0-3-3 +1 TOI 19:05
Erik Karlsson 4-2-0-2 +1 TOI 27:03 INJ 6
David Dziurzynski 6-2-0-2 +1 TOI 14:13 [AHL 4-1-1-2 +1]
Eric Gryba 6-0-2-2 -1 TOI 20:44 [AHL 4-0-2-2 +5]
Stephane Da Costa 8-1-1-2 -3 TOI [AHL 3-1-1-2 +1]
Patrick Wiercioch 8-0-2-2 Even TOI 15:15 SCR 2
Sergei Gonchar 10-0-2-2 +1 TOI 24:06
Zack Smith 10-0-2-2 -1 TOI 15:15
Milan Michalek 3-0-1-1 +1 TOI 18:23 INJ 7
Jim O’Brien 7-1-0-1 Even TOI 11:55 SCR 3
Andre Benoit 7-1-0-1 Even TOI 15:52 SCR 3
Chris Neil 10-0-1-1 -1 TOI 14:04
Chris Phillips 10-0-1-1 +1 TOI 19:51
Mark Methot 10-0-0-0 Even TOI 22:38
Kaspars Daugavins 9-0-0-0 -2 TOI 11:11 SCR 1
Mike Lundin 6-0-0-0 -2 TOI 17:02 SCR 4
Derek Grant 5-0-0-0 -1 TOI 8:39 SCR 1 [AHL 4-2-0-2 +1]
Peter Regin 3-0-0-0 -1 TOI 11:31 INJ 7
Jason Spezza [injured]
Guillaume Latendresse [injured]
Erik Karlsson [injured]
Jared Cowen [injured]
Craig Anderson 2-2-1 1.49 .952 INJ 2
Ben Bishop 4-1-0 2.17 .935
Besides the many injures to the team over this period (Karlsson, Michalek, Regin, and Anderson), what’s apparent is that the Sens have been able to win by committee. No one player has dominated, with Greening and Alfredsson sharing the scoring lead with a modest 5 points over ten games. The blueline, in the absence of Karlsson, has provided virtually no offense (trio tied at 2 points each), while on the forward side Turris is in the midst of an awful slump. The Sens combination of great goaltending, excellent penalty killing, and strong defensive play has been enough (thus far) to keep them high in the standings. Condra and Zibanejad lead the plus/minus column (+3), while the demoted Da Costa was a team worst -3. Of the Binghamton players brought up both Gryba and Dziurzynski look like they belong, with the latter being the biggest surprise as he was not in the midst of a great season in the AHL. O’Brien‘s play has suffered after a hot start, while Lundin‘s debut has been a big disappointment. I’ve long thought that Bryan Murray’s pro scouting (signing free agents and making trades) does not match his amateur scouting and I wonder if some moves will be made in that regard.
This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)