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With the Boston Bruins behind them, the Ottawa Senators will look to make the conference finals for the first time since 2007, with only the New York Rangers standing in their way.
It’s an exciting time to be a Sens fan, with plenty of moments of nervous and passionate moments from the last week. Craig Anderson’s shutout in game four, Sean Kuraly’s comeback in game five, Clarke MacArthur’s series winner in game six; I think it’s fair to say Sens fans really needed this three day break.
Biggest Gains: Clarke MacArthur
Can it be possible for the Ottawa to have two Masterton nominees? MacArthur’s incredible journey to the Sens’ current lineup has been well-documented, and his series clinching goal on Sunday was the icing on the cake. I no longer clench up whenever I see him on the ice, and he’s looked like a legitimate fit in a forward corps that has so much competition for playing time.
Biggest Losses: Cody Ceci
The Phaneuf-Ceci pairing has been terribly ineffective for the Sens, constantly getting hemmed in their own end. Ceci’s been second on team in giveaways this series behind Erik Karlsson, except the only difference is that he doesn’t have the ability to make up for them. Watching him attempt to clear the zone has been painful, which is what led him to leading the team in blocked shots in round one with 23 (for comparison, 2nd place had only 12).
Some of the blame can be placed on Boucher, who’s been using him as a shutdown defender when he’s shown in the past that his strengths lie in offence. Maybe it’s time to rethink how this team is handling Ceci.
Ups and Downs
| Player | Trend | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Player | Trend | Notes |
| Goaltenders | ||
| Craig Anderson | ▲ | Put up a .945 SV% to close out the series, including a crucial game four shutout. The next test is to see how he'll face off against the Rangers' offence. |
| Mike Condon | ━ | Backup. |
| Matt O'Connor | ━ | Backup to the backup. |
| Defensemen | ||
| Mark Borowiecki | + | Still out after taking a tumble in game two, and looking doubtful to be back for at least the first game of round two. |
| Cody Ceci | ▼ | See biggest losses. |
| Fredrik Claesson | ━ | Played in place of Wideman for game six, being deployed for only 12:36. Hard to judge, although he seemed to still be his steady self. |
| Ben Harpur | ▲ | Ben Harpur has been growing on Sens fans for a while. He's been on the rise on Guy Boucher's depth chart, and it looks to be well-deserved. His confidence with the puck to me has been to me his most surprising trait, exiting the zone with ease before making the first pass. |
| Jyrki Jokipakka | ━ | Free falling on the depth chart. |
| Erik Karlsson | ▲ | His highlight reel continued with his slap-pass to set up Ryan's game-winning goal in game four. His 41:51 played the following night also set a personal career high. Hard to believe he was doing this all while injured. |
| Marc Methot | ━ | Acted as Ottawa's physical presence on the blue line, throwing the body 13 times over the three games. |
| Dion Phaneuf | ━ | Getting heavy minutes alongside Ceci, Phaneuf somehow found himself on the positive side of on-ice shots on goal (52.38%). |
| Chris Wideman | ▼ | Just when we all thought Wideman's spot was finally secure, he becomes a healthy scratch. His decision making hasn't been as quick as it was near the beginning of the season, although he's still managed to put up a team-leading 59.09% CF% at even strength in his two games while receiving even zone deployment. |
| Forwards | ||
| Derick Brassard | ▲ | Had a point on two thirds of Ottawa's goals, including an assist on both the game winners. It'll be exciting to see how Big Game Brass performs against his former teammates. |
| Alexandre Burrows | ▼ | Generated a minimal nine shots on goal throughout the entirety of round one (9th most amongst Sens forwards), while receiving time alongside top teammates. |
| Chris DiDomenico | ━ | The ace up the sleeve (i.e. didn't play this week). |
| Ryan Dzingel | ━ | Hard to believe Dzingel only had one point in the entire series, as his combination of speed and skill has generated him plenty of prime opportunities to score. The next step is to get his chances to hit the net, with only three shots over his five games. |
| Mike Hoffman | ━ | His pass to Stone in game five was the highlight of the week, although he didn't get as many chances in the other two despite receiving heavy offensive deployment and time on the power play. |
| Chris Kelly | ━ | He played... barely. Seven minutes in a game that lasted over ninety. |
| Clarke MacArthur | ▲ | See biggest gains. |
| Chris Neil | ━ | Pyatt's injury has opened up the possibility for Sens fans to see Neil again, although the sheer amount of bottom six depth makes it unlikely. |
| Jean-Gabriel Pageau | ━ | Pageau's an interesting player to watch. He's been putting up low numbers (one point all series, 41.57% CF% this week), although it's all been while facing the toughest competition. His quality of teammates is just as intriguing. He's on the ice most often with Phaneuf and Ceci, although hes's also been recently receiving time with Stone and Hoffman. Additionally led the team with fifteen hits this week. |
| Tom Pyatt | + | Still out with a lower body injury, no timetable for his return. |
| Bobby Ryan | ▲ | Incredible week from Ryan, scoring the winning goal in game four, and making the pass to MacArthur to close out the series. One interesting tidbit is Ryan started in the offensive zone over four times more than he did in the defensive zone this week. |
| Zack Smith | ▼ | Ever since moving back to centre, Smith hasn't seemed like the same player. He can still win draws (63% this week), although his 42.86% CF% is the lowest this week on the team. |
| Viktor Stalberg | ━ | It seems inevitable that he'll get a goal at some point given his great chances. Hit the net five times in game six alone. |
| Mark Stone | ▲ | Led the team with eleven shots on goal this week, adding eight takeaways to the mix. His backhand goal was quite the way to break a slump. |
| Kyle Turris | ▲ | Every goal was crucial this week, including Turris' game six snipe. His 53.61 CF% was one of the highest on the team. |
| Colin White | ━ | Another injury to the main roster and he could be a potential option to fill in. For now he remains a victim of depth. |
| Tommy Wingels | ━ | With the top nine all playing top six minutes, it's left the fourth line to pick up the scraps. Like Kelly, Wingels played minimal minutes in his single game. |
All data from NHL.com, Natural Stat Trick and Corsica.