Jason Spezza leads the Senators with 36 even strength points, but do you know who is second? It's Nick Foligno with 30, two ahead of Erik Karlsson and Daniel Alfredsson. In terms of per 60 minutes of 5-on-5, Foligno is in fact leading the way with 2.41 points per 60 minutes.

On defence, Erik Karlsson leads with 28 even strength points, Sergei Gonchar is second with 15. The two are also first and second on a per 60 minute basis, with Karlsson at 1.41/60 minutes and Gonchar at 1.09.

So given how often Foligno scores on even strength, why does he not get more power play time? He gets 1:12 of power play time per game, which is only eighth among the club's forwards.

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You'll be reading a lot about Chris Phillips' 1000th NHL game with the Ottawa Senators and Mike Fisher's return to this town over the course of the day, so I'll steer clear of those stories and talk about something else that could be pretty cool: The Ottawa 67s joining the Senators at Scotiabank Place for the next two seasons, while Lansdowne Park (and the Civic Centre) undergo some pretty major renovations.

For 67s fans, this might not be the best news, because these games are usually a cheaper option than Senators games, and an easier one to get to. Hopefully, with parking lot improvements aimed at improving OC Transpo service to SBP, it will be easier for 67s fans to get there.

As a Senators fan, though, I'm just hoping we get to see some double-headers. That would be awesome.

Links after the jump...

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Having sat through the horror of a 5-0 home loss to Toronto and then yet another heartbreaking Super Bowl loss, I have moved on to the acceptance stage. However, I was further disappointed after reading this article by Wayne Scanlan that a season-ticket holder feels that it isn't "safe" to attend a game against Toronto or Montréal because their fans take over the building. Other season-ticket holders were said to be considering cancelling their season-tickets simply to avoid these six games. Well first of all, they don't take over the building, we hand it over without a fight. This isn't Europe, there is nothing remotely dangerous about being a visiting fan at a North American hockey game.

I find this to be the wrong approach. Instead of cowering and avoiding these games, which only serves to increase the number of fans of the visiting team, more home fans should be buying these tickets. The idea that Sens fans are going to avoid these games because the big, bad, mean Leafs fans are booing our Alfie is frankly just surrendering to them. Personally speaking, I find these games are the best ones to go to because they have the best atmosphere and a lot of back-and-forth heckling. If Alfie getting booed annoys you, don't just sit there and pout. Start an Alfie chant, or boo Dion Phaneuf.

This isn't meant to be a rant about how I am such a great fan and the others are terrible. I've been to three Senators/Leafs games in Ottawa in my life so it isn't like I am there every time. However, there was nothing in the atmosphere at those games that makes attending the game unbearable to attend. As someone who attends the games as a visiting fan in Toronto, I don't find anything particularly wrong with fans showing up to support the visiting team. It is up to the home fans to snap up the tickets and not avoid them.

Links follow after the jump.

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The Ottawa Senators are poised to welcome Brian Elliott and Mike Fisher back to Ottawa this week, but maybe they should be careful about being too welcoming to their former teammates.

In games against players who were dealt away during the 2010-11 Senate Reform fire sale so far this season, the Ottawa Senators have a 1-3-0 record, with the lone win being a shootout victory against the Montreal Canadiens. Chris Campoli has played one game against the Sens this year, and has one assist. Chris Kelly has played three games against Ottawa, and has two goals and an assist. It's obviously a curse.

How will Elliott's St. Louis Blues (assuming Elliott gets the start) and Fisher's Nashville Predators fare against the Senators this week? Time will tell. If you subscribe to the supernatural, though, maybe you can already see the future--and it won't be good for the Sens.

Links after the jump.

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As the Ottawa Senators get ready to host the New York Islanders tonight, it is worth looking at Ottawa's record against the 'weaker' teams. Thanks to the overtime loss point, there are eight clubs in the NHL currently under a point a game. The Senators are 2-0 against Tampa Bay, 3-1-1 against Buffalo, 1-2 against Montréal, 2-0-1 against Carolina, 0-1 against Anaheim, 1-0 against Edmonton and 1-0 against Columbus. That is a combined record of 10-4-2 against these clubs, with tonight's game the first of four against the Islanders. Of course these teams might have been better at the time of the game, and other teams not on this list might have been worse, but this does paint a picture of how the Senators have performed against teams that have had a poor season overall.

The Senators have 12 more games left against these teams with 4 against the Islanders, 3 against Montréal, 2 against Tampa Bay, 1 each against Buffalo, Carolina and Edmonton. Making the playoffs does not require a team to beat the good teams regularly, but an average team beating up on the lower teams definitely helps the cause.

I don't want to call a game in early February a must-win game, but with Ottawa currently on a four-game losing streak, a loss to the Islanders at home could be demoralising.

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In yet another Eugene Melnyk interview, he mentioned that Bryan Murray might call up Robin Lehner for a few games at the end of the season. But should Ottawa call up Lehner right now? Based on his numbers from this season, Lehner doesn't deserve an NHL call-up. His 3.19 goals against average might be a result of the quality of Binghamton's team, but his .909 save percentage is average at best.

My personal feeling is that Lehner will perform better in the NHL than he will in the AHL. He has already played lights out for an entire playoff stretch, including multiple overtime wins, a penalty shot save facing elimination, and winning a title in his first professional season. Then to go from that to starting in the AHL regular season again, it's like starting a video game at the medium level and beating it, then restarting the game on easy. You want to go up a level, not down again. Will the motivation still be there?

That aside, Lehner hasn't had a good season (though he thinks he is a better goalie now than last year), but is he a better option than Alex Auld? Auld hasn't started a game since 30 December and hasn't started and finished the same game since 16 December. He also has as many NHL wins (1) as Lehner this season.

King Robin will be able to provide Anderson a rest from time to time, and it also gives the Senators a chance to test him in meaningful NHL games selectively, without throwing him to the wolves. There is also Lehner's belief that he benefits more from practising against NHL shooters than he does by playing games in the AHL.

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The Ottawa Senators have lost four games in a row, all in regulation. While they are still sixth in the eastern conference, they have dropped to eighth in the east in terms of points per game. That's the bad news.

The good news is that the Senators played very well last night in a road game against the Stanley Cup champions. Despite being unlucky on several counts (no power plays, an own-goal, a centre-ice goal) the Senators were right in the game to the end. They will also play the next five games at home starting with the Islanders on Friday, the Maple Leafs on Saturday as well as the Blues, Predators and Oilers next week. The Senators are 14-9-1 at home and the Predators are the only club of the five with a winning record on the road.

This is a very winnable stretch of games for Ottawa, with no travel and relatively easy opponents compared to the schedule in January. A strong run here could help Ottawa open up a gap again for the last playoff spot. Losing the first two games on home ice, especially against the Maple Leafs, and the wheels might start to come off.

It is obvious to say that if the Senators win, things are good, if they lose, it is bad. But, this could be a defining stretch of games for the Senators season. By the end of the trip, there will be only two weeks left until the trade deadline, so the results here could very well shape what Bryan Murray does.

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Nikita Filatov has fallen quite a bit in four months. After having started the season in Ottawa on Jason Spezza's line, he was benched and then sent to the AHL. After a few weeks of performing well in the AHL, he was called up to Ottawa again, and played sparingly for the most part. At this point he went back to Russia to play in the KHL.

It was meant to be a chance for Filatov to thrive in a familiar environment and make a push for next season. However, initially he had difficulties signing a contract and now he has been sent to the MHL (Russian league for players 17-21) after tallying only four points in 12 KHL games.

Whether that decision is financial or not, the fact he has only four points in 12 is worrying. The KHL is a step up from the AHL but is certainly below the NHL level. Having been one of those people who thought Filatov didn't get a fair shot from Paul MacLean, Filatov is not making it easy to defend him. If he can't even stick around at the top level in Russia, what hope does he have to make it in the NHL?

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