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After a brief hiatus, Ups and Downs is back! It’s been a couple weeks since the last time this happened, so here’s a quick rundown of the last two weeks:
Feb 9 - Senators 3, Stars 2
Feb 11 - Senators 3, Islanders 0 (Andy’s return to action)
Feb 14 - Sabres 3, Senators 2
Feb 16 - Senators 3, Devils 0 (Condon’s dad being adorable)
Feb 18 - Senators 6, Maple Leafs 3
Feb 19 - Jets 3, Senators 2
Feb 21 - Senators 2, Devils 1
Phew. Still with me? That means Ottawa went an impressive 5-2-0 in that span. Now it’s time to see how things have gone.
Biggest Gains: Craig Anderson
Could there be anyone else? His return to the net has just solidified his reputation as the great Sens goalie ever. A shutout and a sparkling .944 save percentage in four games. Not to mention that on a personal note, Nicholle seems to be doing very well. Truly a big gainer.
Biggest Losses: The fans
Is this a copout? Yes. But watching the team’s best offensive players go down with injury in the same game was hard. This team had a real chance to win the division, but now lacking three of their top-six forwards (all four if you count Clarke MacArthur), the Sens will be a in a dogfight to make it. We’ll all be waiting expectantly for somebody, anybody to return from injury.
| Player | Trend | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Player | Trend | Notes |
| Goaltenders | ||
| Craig Anderson | ▲ | See Biggest Gains |
| Mike Condon | ▲ | Winnipeg wasn't great, but his other two games were great |
| Defensemen | ||
| Mark Borowiecki | ━ | Looked like he might be losing his spot to Claesson, but still is ahead in Boucher's books for now |
| Cody Ceci | ▼ | Plays a tonne of minutes, gets shelled. Rinse, wash, repeat. |
| Fredrik Claesson | ▲ | Has been great in limited minutes, so of course he's a routine scratch |
| Erik Karlsson | ▲ | Don't look now, but the captain's on a six-game point streak |
| Marc Methot | ▲ | Has played some of his best hockey of the year recently |
| Dion Phaneuf | ━ | Sub-par possession numbers, but he's also been putting up the points lately |
| Chris Wideman | ━ | Just been very, very good |
| Forwards | ||
| Casey Bailey | ━ | He played a game |
| Derick Brassard | ▲ | Looks like his run of play with great linemates may be coming to an end |
| Ryan Dzingel | ━ | Could put in a claim for best winger on the team all of a sudden |
| Mike Hoffman | + | Second-biggest injury on the team |
| Chris Kelly | ━ | Hovering right around the 10-minute mark per game, which is alright with me |
| Curtis Lazar | ▼ | In and out of the lineup, hardly notice him when he's there |
| Clarke MacArthur | + | Hi Clarke |
| Max McCormick | ━ | Also played a game this week |
| Chris Neil | ▼ | Also in and out of the lineup, but at least I notice him mostly when he's there |
| Jean-Gabriel Pageau | ━ | I mean, he's been fine |
| Tom Pyatt | ━ | That's Top-Six Winger Tom Pyatt to you |
| Bobby Ryan | + | Just his luck he plays his best game in more than a year, then gets hurt a game and a half later |
| Zack Smith | ━ | Really the only player who could challenge Dzingel for best winger on the team right now |
| Mark Stone | + | The devastating injury on this team - except according to DoPS, he's not actually injured |
| Kyle Turris | ▲ | Just keeps quietly having a great year with a rotating cast of linemates |