Hockey Day in Canada wasn’t kind to the Ottawa Senators. While their even strength performance against the middling Winnipeg Jets was satisfactory, a lackluster penalty kill and questionable goaltending combined to thwart the effort. The end result was a 5-2 loss, which solidifies Ottawa’s hold on 29th place in the NHL standings.
Here are today’s thumbs: Thumbs Up: Mikkel Boedker Mikkel Boedker has basically been a non-factor for the Senators all season long, but tonight he made a positive impact. Both his five-on-five shot attempt and expected goal shares were incredibly solid, and he added an actual goal to boot.
Was the goal a conversion on a beautiful, hard-fought scoring chance? No. It looked like the hockey gods’ way of rewarding a player who had a good game in an otherwise rough year. It was a feel-good moment. Thumbs Down: Anthony Duclair’s Scoring Slump It now sits at 17 games and counting.
Thumbs Up: Clarity on Anthony Duclair The one positive that has come with Anthony Duclair’s slowdown is that it provides the team with some clarity heading into the deadline. There had certainly been some thought that the Senators could cash in on his tremendously hot start to the year, but there’s likely no chance of that happening now. The market simply won’t be there for a player who has gone almost a quarter of the season without lighting the lamp. Thumps Up: Nikita Zaitsev’s Underlying Numbers It doesn’t happen often, but Nikita Zaitsev had a very nice afternoon in the fancy stats department. Natural Stat Trick shows his five-on-five shot attempt share at 63% and his five-on-five expected goal share at more than 74%. The work that went into creating those numbers also led to a bit of luck:
Zaitsev's skate with a great save here. 👀#HockeyDay pic.twitter.com/WA4HonlU3T
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) February 8, 2020
Zaitsev’s nice night was mentioned in the previous ‘thumb’, but looking at the bigger picture makes Reilly’s impact even clearer. When paired with Zaitsev since his arrival, he’s helped the Senators to generate more than 51% of the five-on-five shot attempts and more than 62% of the five-on-five expected goals. Every night isn’t going to be perfect, but if this small trend can continue through the rest of the year it will be a big win for the team. Thumbs Down: Vladislav Namestnikov’s Disappearing Act It was yet another quiet game from Vladislav Namestnikov, who has recently been half the player he was when he first arrived. His raison d'être with this team is completely and totally undefined, and it’s hard to believe that another team will see something worth ponying up much value for in advance of the deadline. This tweet sums things up:
Vlad Namestnikov first 14 games with Sens: 6 G, 11 points. Next 34 games: 5 G, 11 points. Would they even get the 4th rounder back they gave up for him now? Still have no idea why that move was deemed necessary.
— Tyler Ray (@DefenseMinister) February 8, 2020
Thumbs Down: The Penalty Kill Winnipeg’s power play converted on 75% of its opportunities tonight, with Patrik Laine scoring all three goals. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me three times, and it’s probably time to just call the game... Ottawa’s inability to score on its own man-advantage opportunities combined with Winnipeg’s power play prowess really was the difference in the game. The Senators' good work at even strength will be ignored in the history books.
Thumbs Up: J-G Pageau’s Trade Value Duclair’s stock keeps dropping, but there’s an offsetting effect happening with J-G Pageau. He scored his 21st goal of the season today with a great effort and beautiful backhand from the slot. He’ll be coveted like few others at this trade deadline.
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The Senators are now off until Tuesday, when they’ll be in Colorado for a rematch against the same Avalanche team that thumped them last week.
As always, thanks for reading.