Ottawa Senators Playoff Competitors
Written by: Isaac Deans
Marc DesRosiers – USA TODAY Sports
After six long seasons of falling outside the playoffs, Ottawa Senators fans are chomping at the bit to see their favourite team make a splash in the postseason. Last season, we came within arm’s reach of that goal just to fall short in the end. However, this year will be different… Right?
With a core as strong as Ottawa’s along with the recent additions of Jakob Chychrun, Joonas Korpisalo, Dominik Kubalik, and Vladimir Tarasenko, playoffs should be a realistic expectation for this team. Despite an initial strong start, the Senators have really dropped the ball as of late. Paired with some off-ice debacles, their play on the ice just has not been good enough.
As expected, their highly offensive, run-and-gun style is their saving grace. Scoring a lethal twenty-seven goals for, they’re tied for 6th in the NHL. However, the problem the Sens have and continue to face is on the defensive side of the puck. Game in and game out, they repeatedly have back-breaking lapses and turnovers that lead to high-quality chances and goals against. Additionally, despite some good games here and there, both Joonas Korpisalo and Anton Forsberg have been subpar.
If the Senators truly want to make playoffs, they need to bear down and begin to play a calm, cool, and collected game under pressure. Otherwise, this year will be no different from any other.
In the rest of this article, I’m going to take a closer look at each of the teams who will likely be battling for the wildcard spots in the Eastern Conference, discussing their offence, defence, and goaltending.
Atlantic Division
I first want to mention that both the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Tampa Bay Lightning should earn two of the three top spots in the division. Tampa might be dealing with injuries and a declining core, but it’s never a good idea to bet against the ’20 and ’21 Cup winners.
Boston Bruins
Every year people underestimate the Bruins saying, “This is the year they miss playoffs” (I’m always one of them). However, the Bs are great at silencing the haters because they’re off to another raging hot start this season. They won their first 6 games and are currently sitting second in the league with a record of 6-0-1.
Boston’s greatest strength comes from behind the blue line. Their back-end lead by Charlie McAvoy and Hampus Lindholm have done a superb job at making them one of the best defensive teams in the NHL. In between the pipes, the Bruins have arguably the league’s finest goalie tandems comprising of last year’s Vezina winner, Linus Ullmark and the talented, Jeremy Swayman. They’ve both been brick walls, with save percentages of .937 in 4 games and .957 in 3 games respectively. Together with the defence, they’ve limited the opposition to a league-best eleven goals.
The one potential area for weakness on this roster is their lack of firepower up front. Former sixty-goal man, David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand will have no problem potting goals, but their lack of offensive depth may cripple their secondary scoring. The losses of Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci, Tyler Bertuzzi, and Taylor Hall have left significant holes in their offence. They’re counting on Charlie Coyle, Pavel Zacha, and the rookie Matthew Poitras to fill in these roles.
With the sheer volume of losses up front, the Bruins are going to have to count on their defence and goaltending to remain supreme to take them to the promised land.
Florida Panthers
Coming off a historic run to the Stanley Cup Finals, the Panthers should be a lock for playoffs, right?? I’m not totally convinced. The Cats have had a mediocre start to the season, sitting at a current record of 3-3-0.
On paper, their offence is nothing short of outstanding. Last year, they were sixth in the league in goals per game with 3.51 and the good news is that they didn’t lose anyone substantial up front. However, through their first 6 games, they’ve struggled offensively, potting a measly seventeen goals. While Reinhart is cruising with 7 goals, Tkachuk and Barkov have combined for only a single goal. They’ve got to kick it into gear if they want to climb back up the standings.
Their blue line is a bit perplexing. Their top two d-men Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour are both injured and have yet to see the ice. While I initially thought this would cripple their back end, their team defence has been supreme, only allowing eighteen goals so far. If this rag tag group of defence can persevere until the arrivals of Ekblad and Montour, they’ll be in a much better position than most would have predicted.
The glaring question mark comes in the blue paint. After years of Sergei Bobrovsky below average play, he finally looked like his old self in playoffs. With Spencer Knight out receiving help from the NHLPA’s player assistance program and Alex Lyon moved to Detroit, all eyes are on Bob to take the reins. He’s been underwhelming to start the year, with a .899 save percentage.
To make the playoffs, Florida needs their stars to start scoring because if the defence should break, Bobrovsky will continue to struggle.
Buffalo Sabres
Before the start of the season, all eyes were on the Sabres to take the league by storm. Unfortunately, it’s been a tough go for the league’s youngest team as they’ve stumbled off the hop, earning a disappointing 3-4-0 record.
Offence should be the strong point for this youthful squad, but they’ve only managed to pot nineteen goals. Other than Jeff Skinner, everyone else has had a hard time tickling the twine. If they want to battle for a playoff spot, Tage Thompson and Alex Tuch need to find their scoring touch fast, and not just because the former is on my fantasy team. Additionally, only 2 goals have come from their back end, with both Rasmus Dahlin and Owen Power behind held scoreless.
Defensively, the Sabres have been mediocre, allowing twenty-two goals against. The real problem for them is that they’ve put too much pressure on the rookie goalie, Devon Levi. Despite being an outstanding prospect, at just twenty-one years of age it’s far too great of a responsibility to expect him to step into a starting goalie role. To get out of the basement, they’ll need one of him, Eric Comrie, or Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen to steal the starting role.
Detroit Red Wings
Despite most overlooking them, the Red Wings have been surging to start the season. Currently 4th in the NHL, Detroit boasts an impressive 5-2-1 record.
Led by Dylan Larkin and former Senator, Alex DeBrincat, the Wings have exploded offensively, sitting first in the league with a stunning 35 goals for. This dynamic duo has combined to score a whopping fifteen of those thirty-five goals (why couldn’t you have done this in Ottawa, Alex??). While this hot streak will eventually cool down, if the rest of their offensive depth can continue to chip in as they’ve done, the Red Wings should have no problem putting the puck in the net.
On the other end of the ice, the Wings have struggled to keep the puck out of their net, allowing twenty-four goals and an average of 3 goals per game. in the blue paint, their starter, Ville Husso has been part of this problem, with an underwhelming .893 save percentage and seventeen goals against in 5 games. James Reimer, on the other hand, has an impressive .939 save percentage and 5 goals against in his 3 starts.
It's difficult to tell if this is just a hot streak or if they’re the real deal, but the Red Wings have shown they’re as much in this dogfight as anyone else.
Metropolitan Division
The Metropolitan will be a weaker division this year, so I don’t think as many teams will be in the mix. However, barring any crazy changes, I believe the New Jersey Devils, Carolina Hurricanes, and New York Rangers should be locked for the postseason, so I won’t bother lumping them in with the rest of these teams with uncertainty.
New York Islanders
The Islanders have been a mixed bag to start the season. They recently beat the Sens by capitalizing on their many defensive lapses despite being outgunned. Their record is an average of 3-2-1, which perfectly encapsulates their start.
Due to their famously tight (and sleep-inducing) defensive structure, the Isles can be tough to score against. So far, they’ve only permitted nineteen goals against. Their back end is mostly comprised of big tough defencemen who complement this rigid defensive system. Furthermore, who can forget about Ilya Sorokin. Arguably the best goalie in the league, Sorokin is a monster in between the pipes who is in the conversation for the Vezina year after year. Between him and their system, the Isles won’t let in a lot of goals.
The drawback of this system is that the Islanders tend never to score many goals. They’re currently tied for 5th worst in the league with a pathetic sixteen goals for. They have decent weapons like Mathew Barzal, Bo Horvat, Brock Nelson, Anders Lee, and Noah Dobson who will lead the pack, but their structure will vastly limit the number of goals they score this season.
If they’re to make a comeback to the playoffs, they’re going to have to score more than usual to take a bit of the load off poor Sorokin.
Pittsburgh Penguins
Much like Ottawa, Pittsburgh has had a dreadful opening 7 games. Despite all the hype around the team coming into the year, they’ve sunk to a mere 3-4-1. However, they’re a curious case because they don’t have any glaring holes.
Up front, the Penguins have limitless weapons at their disposal. Despite their age, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin will continue to be the fire that lights this team. They along with Jake Guentzel, Bryan Rust, Reilly Smith, Rickard Rakell, Kris Letang and Erik Karlsson should have no problem lighting the lamp. So far, they’ve potted twenty-one goals for an average of 3 G/GP, which is nothing to scoff at. They’re going to rely on some of those names to get things going though because Sid and Geno won’t be able to do it all themselves.
Defensively, the Pens have been in the middle of the pack, only allowing twenty goals against. Newcomers Erik Karlsson and Ryan Graves have helped to deepen this core, helping to add more offence and defence respectively. In net, Tristan Jarry has been excellent, allowing only eleven goals against in 5 games and earning a save percentage of .917. If Alex Nedeljkovic can at least serve as an average goalie, the Pens should have a solid tandem in goal.
Despite this slow start, the Pens are too talented and experienced to fall to the basement. Expect them to return to form sooner rather than later.
