The Senators are in a tailspin right now, and with each passing mediocre performance the natives are getting more and more restless.
Things were perceived as rosy when the team was shooting at a clip around 15%, with many not heeding the warning that it was unsustainable and the fact that they were giving up shots and chances at an alarming clip would catch up with them eventually.
Quite frankly, the only difference between the club that played the first 30 games with a 16-10-5 record and the last 14 games at 4-8-1 is the team's shooting percentage.
Through Dec 14th the Senators had a shooting percentage of 10.5%, good for second in the league. Everything they shot seemed to go in, and despite the fact that they were getting outshot by an average of 33.9-28.1 on a nightly basis, the sights were in focus and wins were coming more often than losses.
In the last 13 games, Ottawa has managed 29.3 shots per game (up slightly) and have given up 32.4 (down over a shot per game). However the Senators' shooting percentage has dropped to 6%, which is 3rd from the bottom over the last month.
There is not really a significant difference in the way the team has played, in either end of the ice, it is just the shots are not finding the mark like they were early on. The goals against average and save percentage are pretty close (although the Washington game skewed the recent SP numbers somewhat) to what they have been.
Four percent doesn't seem like a lot, but that is four goals on every hundred shots, or more than a goal per game.
It doesn't take a theoretical physicist to determine that Ottawa either needs to shore up things in their own end or get back to an elite level shooting percentage. Neither is going to be easy given the current roster and changes are tough because any move they make will cost them in another area of strength.
They can't pull a deal like Nashville and Columbus did, because they don't have an abundance in any area to just give away players. If the rumor that Pierre LeBrun put out that if Tampa was going to discuss Drouin that Cody Ceci would have to be on the table then it would be a non-starter. Ottawa has 3 defensemen that you could consider top 4, so they can't trade one of them away on the potential of adding a guy who might be a top 6 solution.
The same goes the other way. If the Senators want to add a defenseman to shore up their own end, it is most likely going to be a rental and looking at the players on the rosters of non-contenders that might be available, it is pretty slim pickings and not much of an upgrade on what the Sens are putting out there now. Otherwise the team dealing is going to want roster players in return and Ottawa doesn't have the quality depth up front to just take one away from there either.
So assume that help is not on the way from outside any time soon.
I don't think the current group is capable of suddenly becoming a shut-down team that smothers an opposing club and holds them to 25 shots or less on a nightly basis, so that leaves one option.
Keep throwing out the lineup as it is, and hope that a couple of players can break out of their lengthy slumps and get back to the 8-10% shooting pace that was so much fun to watch early on. The Senators have gone from one extreme to the other, and the longer they spend at the lower end of the spectrum the more likely they are to slide out of the playoff race altogether.
The answer lies in the room, on the sticks of Karlsson, Ryan, Turris, Stone and Hoffman. As unfair as it might be, they are the ones who need to produce every night or the Senators lose.
Dave Cameron also has to take some share of the responsibility because although he can't force the shots to go in, he can put the best players in the best position to succeed. That starts with loading up the first power play unit.
It might not be the right answer or the one you want to hear, and it might be unfair to put it on 5 guys, but it is the truth. Crossing your fingers might not be a sound strategy, but it looks like that is all you have right now if you are a Senators' fan.