Danny McCloskey
We are now eight games into the Ottawa Senators season. That puts us at about 10% of the season. Already the Senators have faced their share of adversity, with the long term injury to Brady Tkachuk. Their 3-4-1 record seems appropriate with their level of play thus far. There are things to like, and things to dislike about their start. Without further ado, let’s dive into the details.
READ MORE: Is it Time to Worry About Fabian Zetterlund?
Likes
1. Shane Pinto’s Start
Surely Senators fans are well aware that this is a contract season for Shane Pinto. Pinto has certainly started as well as he possibly could have, with 7 goals and 8 points in his first 8 games. He is currently tied for the league lead in goals. It’s not just the offense, though. Pinto is the Senators most important defensive forward. He plays over 19 minutes per game, with over three of those minutes coming on the penalty kill. Pinto was the Senators leading scoring in the second half of last season. This isn’t just a hot start, this is a young player who has progressed into one of the Senators best all-around players.
2. Left Side of Defense
This is not to say that the trio of Sanderson, Chabot, and Kleven have been consistently outstanding to start the season. It’s just so nice to have a part of the lineup that is locked into place every game, barring injury. Sanderson will eat up 24 minutes a night, Chabot 22-23, and Kleven will take the remaining 14-16 minutes. They are a great combination of size, strong skating, physicality, offense, and defense.
3. Cozens’ Goal Scoring
Josh Norris was the purest scorer on the Senators over the last few years. The problem was that he couldn’t stay healthy. Cozens doesn’t have those same injury concerns. His problem was his inconsistent offense. Would he be more like the Cozens that scored 31 goals and 68 points in 2022-23? Or the Cozens that scored just 11 goals and 31 points in 61 games last season, before being traded to Ottawa? So far, so good. Cozens is second on the team with 4 goals and 6 points, putting him on pace for around 40 goals and 60 points.
4. Face-offs
Ironically, the Senators recently lost a game against Edmonton in overtime, with the winner coming off a lost Shane Pinto face-off. Besides that, the Senators have been incredible on the draws. They have won 59.6% of their faceoffs as a team, putting them in first in the NHL. Second place, the Boston Bruins, aren’t even that close at 56.1%. As for who’s leading the way, here’s the list:
- Stutzle (68.6%), Giroux, (66.7%), Cozens (58.4%), Pinto (56.3%), Eller (55.1%), Greig (54.6%)
It’s pretty incredible that Ridly Greig is the team’s worst regular face-off man at around 55%.
5. Come From Behind Mentality
The Senators were down by two goals after the first period of the first game of the season against the Lightning. They came back to win, 5-4. They were down 3-2 late in the third against Seattle. Cozens tied the game late, and they won in the shootout. This week, they were down 2-0 after two against the Oilers. They scored two third period goals to earn a point in the overtime loss. Then, in their last game, they were down 1-0 to the Flyers after being scored on with the first shot of the game. They came back to win 2-1. It wasn’t that long ago that the Senators were a fragile team, incapable of dealing with any type of adversity. Early on this year, it’s good to see them stay even keeled despite going down in games early and often.
Dislikes
1. Goaltending
The good news is that perhaps the goaltending is starting to correct itself, with Linus Ullmark having his best game of the season in the Senators last game. He stopped 22 of the 23 Flyers shots in the Sens 2-1 on Thursday.
Prior to that, though, it had been a rough go. As of now, the Senators have given up 4.25 goals against per game, second worst in the NHL. Ullmark has an .867 SV%. Even worse is the backup situation. Leevi Merilainen, coming off a poor preseason, gave up eight goals in his only start and was promptly sent to the AHL. As of now, goaltending has to be the biggest concern for this team.
2. Poor Penalty Killing
The Senators penalty kill currently ranks second worst in the NHL at a woeful 62.1%. A lot has been made of the diamond formation that the Senators use. Here’s the problem- they are liable to give the opposition way too much time and space down low. Whether it’s McDavid, Kucherov, Zucker, they have been burned time and time again. It has plagued them all season long.
3. Early Game Struggles
The stats back up this statement- score first, win the game (usually). That’s what makes this an alarming stat- the Senators have scored the first goal of the game in just one of their eight games. The two issues above have plagued a factor into this being a problem. It’s not as if the Senators have looked horrible at the start of these games. It’s a matter of being exposed on the penalty kill, or not getting a save when they need it. Here’s something to look forward to- the Senators went 35-6 when scoring first last season. Eventually, they’ll start scoring first again, right?
4. Fabian Zetterlund’s Play
Here are Zetterlund’s stats this season:
- 8 games, 0 goals, 1 assist
He started the season playing 16-17 minutes per game. Then, it was 12-14 minutes. In the Senators last game, he played just 9:13. When he was acquired from the Sharks, the most optimistic thought was that he could be a linemate for Tim Stutzle. As of now, he’s stuck on the fourth line.
5. Prospects Not Producing
This is an outside the NHL problem. As a prospect boxscore follower, I haven’t seen a whole lot in the way of production. Here are a few of the Senators top prospects:
- Carter Yakemchuk (AHL): 5 games, 1 goal, 2 points
- Logan Hensler (NCAA): 5 games, 0 goals, 1 point
- Blake Montgomery (NCAA): 5 games, 0 points
- Blake Vanek (WHL): 9 games, 0 goals, 3 points
- Javon Moore (NCAA): 7 games, 1 goal, 2 points
Luke Ellinas, another top prospect in the system, has yet to play because of injury. Lucas Beckman, a goalie the Senators took in the fourth round last season, has a solid .908 SV%. The problem is, his team stinks. He has a 1-7-3 record. As for a prospect producing well, Stephen Halliday has 6 points (all assists) through 5 games with Belleville.
