The Ottawa Senators fell to 1-4-0 on the season this afternoon, with a 2-0 loss to the Minnesota Wild. In handing the Wild their first victory of the year, Ottawa gave the hometown fans very little to cheer about, as they were outplayed, outscored, and generally outmatched by another team that hasn’t had much success in 2019-20.
Here is a condensed version of today's thumbs:
Thumbs Down: The Roster Plan We’ve talked at length about the need for the Senators to balance the AHL and NHL rosters to ensure that everybody who needs valuable development minutes, gets valuable development minutes. Right now, it’s really difficult to see what DJ Smith & Co. have planned in that respect.
Forward prospects are getting yo-yoed between the big club and the farm with frightening regularity, which has resulted in there being no lineup continuity at either level. While offensive players like Drake Batherson, Vitaly Abramov, and others play out their days in Belleville, this main Senators squad struggles to put the puck in the net. The kids are supposedly alright, right? Maybe it makes sense to give them some runway.
Thumbs Up: Craig Anderson’s Performance This game was different than the first three losses of the Senators’ season, as bad goaltending wasn’t a difference maker in the final result. Craig Anderson was fantastic, stopping 33 of 34 shots fired his direction. If he can work his way into a groove, the Sens should be at least competitive more often than not. Regardless of what happens on the forward lines or with the defence pairings, this Ottawa team will only go as far as its goaltending allows.
Thumbs Down: The Power Play The current incarnation of Ottawa’s man-advantage unit is completely useless. Per Natural Stat Trick, no team in the league generates fewer shot attempts per 60 minutes of 5v4 time than the Senators; for context, the league leaders in that category are firing the puck on net at more than double the rate that Ottawa has to start the year per Natural Stat Trick. Something has to change, or the big “0… sitting in the PPG column will remain:
Sens have yet to score a power play goal this season (0-for-13), but they have looked a lot more organized and dangerous with the man advantage in the past two games.
— Ian Mendes (@ian_mendes) October 14, 2019
That PPG is coming at some point....
Thumbs Up: The Chabot-Zaitsev Pairing I’ve criticized this pairing a lot to start the season, so it’s only fair that I give them credit when it’s due. On a night when the Senators looked exactly like a team expected to compete for Alexis Lafreniere, Chabot and Zaitsev both had nice afternoons; each of them was on the ice for a near-60% shot attempt share and near-70% expected goal share at 5v5.
While it’s impossible to draw vast conclusions from a one-game sample size, this performance does show us that there *can* be something there. The question now is whether this one-time performance can turn into a short-term trend, and then long-term consistency.
Bonus Sympathy Thumbs: Fans Who Spent Money on Tickets I’m so sorry. This was a snooze fest.
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As always, thanks for reading.