Ottawa has reached the 62-game mark (I’m two games off my usual twenty-game snapshot, but for the sake of simplicity I’ve gone with how things are now), so it’s time to take stock and see how the team has performed (for the previous segment go here). The Sens went 12-6-4, which puts them tied for 11th in the conference (one up from 22 games ago) and they remain 6th in the division. Their 174 goals for has fallen to tied for 7th in the conference, while their 199 goals against has improved to 15th (second worst). Ottawa has the 15th best powerplay (18.9%), which is one place lower, albeit their percentage is slightly higher, while their penalty killing (80.6%) is 23rd (improving one place and by almost a full percentage point). Their record is much better than in their previous segment of games, but they’ve barely moved at all in the standings (as predicted months ago).
Player’s stats (AHL=games in the AHL):
Erik Karlsson 22-6-13-19 -6
Jason Spezza 18-4-12-16 -12
Clarke MacArthur 22-8-8-16 -5
Kyle Turris 22-10-5-15 +1
Cory Conacher 22-1-10-11 +3
Bobby Ryan 22-5-5-10 Even
Mika Zibanejad 22-3-7-10 -4
Milan Michalek 22-4-5-9 -4
Marc Methot 20-2-5-7 +8
Colin Greening 22-4-3-7 -6
Zack Smith 22-3-3-6 -3
Chris Neil 16-3-3-6 -5
Erik Condra 22-2-4-6 +2
Jared Cowen 21-0-6-6 -8
Cody Ceci 22-1-4-5 +1
Eric Gryba 17-0-5-5 -4
Stephane Da Costa 8-3-1-4 +1 [AHL 19-4-13-17]
Patrick Wiercioch 13-2-1-3 Even
Mark Stone 7-1-1-2 -1 [AHL 9-5-7-12]
Chris Phillips 13-0-1-1 -6
Matt Kassian 9-0-1-1 Even
Joe Corvo 4-0-1-1 -3
Jean-Gabriel Pageau 6-0-0-0 Even [AHL 18-4-11-15]
Mike Hoffman 2-0-0-0 +1 [AHL 24-16-19-35]
Craig Anderson 10-3-4 3.06 .908
Robin Lehner 2-3-0 3.05 .912
(Andrew Hammond played part of a game, but other than allowing no goals there’s not much to say)
It’s an interesting phenomena to look at a team that remained a collective minus that won the majority of its games (granted, without the loser point things wouldn’t be so impressive, just 12-10). Karlsson continues to lead the way (including the most assists), with MacArthur continuing his production (most goals) and Turris recovering from a minor slump during the previous twenty games; speaking of slumps, Ryan has struggled offensively, while Conacher has been much more productive than the first half of the season; Michalek bumped his meagre production from awful to middling, but is still a piece that needs moving (assuming anyone will take him); Corvo and Kassian remain on the roster for inexplicable reasons; Gryba got out of the MacLean dog house while Wiercioch went back into it–either Cowen or Phillips belongs there, but the coaching staff has a soft spot for both; Stone and Da Costa played well in limited action. Spezza was the worst minus (12) on the team, while Methot the best plus (8). Lehner‘s infrequent appearances have hurt his performances, while Anderson has been okay in net, but his underlying numbers remain below league averages.
The trade rumours still swirl and I’m less excited by who might be coming in (Chris Stewart is name floating around right now) than who might go out. The Sens have a significant amount of dead weight on their roster that I’d like them see shed for assets (if nothing else). Bryan Murray’s deadline track record is awful, but we can hope the days of acquiring Martin Lapointe or Mike Commodore are over.
This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)
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