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Senators' supporting cast rising to occasion in first quarter

November 1, 2017, 2:17 PM ET [4 Comments]
Jared Crozier
Ottawa Senators Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
While the season is still in the starting phase, the Ottawa Senators offense has become more potent than it was last season.

Yes, some of the bigger names have had great starts, namely Mark Stone and Derick Brassard, but a big reason for that is the production that the club has gotten from the bottom half of the roster, which has contributed a lot more than the team got from that group last season.

While Chris Kelly, Chris Neil, Viktor Stalberg, Tommy Wingels etc have moved on (and some will be missed for certain areas), their offensive production left a lot to be desired. Enter Nate Thompson (who has already given more than I am sure many expected), Chris DiDomenico (whose 5 points in 5 games already surpassed what Neil had in 53 games last year) and the fact that Tom Pyatt, Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Ryan Dzingel are all on pace to exceed last season's production.

Ottawa also got just 20 goals from defensemen not named Erik Karlsson all last season, and they already have 10 from the rest of the blue line just 12 games into this campaign.

Some of the increase in production is due to the increased opportunity due to some key injuries and illnesses, but the fact is, the role players are stepping up and contributing more than they did at the offensive end last season.

Offense from more sources means that when the inevitable slumps and injuries happen, they aren't as impactful because the next guy is there to step in and pick up the slack. There was a lot of concern about Erik Karlsson missing at the beginning of the season and how that would impact the team, but while you can't replace a Norris candidate, you can make up for it with a bit more production spread over the rest of the group.

I am not sure that these numbers were expected at the outset of the season, but they are certainly more than welcomed, and the more the merrier. The game isn't all about offense either, and I don't think they have given up too much at their own end in order to get the boost in the opposition end (Monday nights debacle aside).
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