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Don’t look now, but the Senators are up 2-0 on the New York Rangers in Round 2. I’ll continue to preach not counting your chickens before they’ve hatched, but this is still more wins than many pundits saw the Sens getting. That’s pretty good.
Biggest Gains: Jean-Gabriel Pageau
Could it be anyone else? That four-goal performance was arguably the greatest playoff performance by any Senator ever. Just incredible.
Biggest Losses: Chris Wideman
With due respect to the atrocity we call a powerplay, Wideman is the biggest loser thus far. Boucher seems happy to keep playing a winning lineup, and that makes Wideman that odd man out. I think he could draw in for Harpur again at this point, if nothing other than to keep the players fresh, but for now he’s lost his lineup spot.
Ups and Downs
| Player | Trend | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Player | Trend | Notes |
| Goaltenders | ||
| Craig Anderson | ━ | Great Game 1, awful Game 2, but hey, two wins! |
| Mike Condon | ━ | Not gonna play unless Andy lets in more than 5 goals, apparently |
| Defensemen | ||
| Mark Borowiecki | + | It must be a serious injury - can't think of whe else he'd still be out |
| Cody Ceci | ━ | He's broken even in the "fancy stats" which is hugely necessary |
| Fredrik Claesson | ━ | He's looked fine except when he's playing with Ben Harpur |
| Ben Harpur | ━ | Looks a little off, but to be fair he's also passable when not with Claesson |
| Erik Karlsson | ▲* | Still point-per-game, but gets a * in case his injuries are catching up |
| Marc Methot | ▲ | Also point-per-game this series, and that goal on Saturday was pure hockey sense to follow up the play |
| Dion Phaneuf | ▲ | Above 50% of the 5v5 shot attempts AND putting up points |
| Chris Wideman | ▼ | See Biggest Losses |
| Forwards | ||
| Derick Brassard | ━ | No points, 4 PIMs, average possession |
| Alexandre Burrows | ▲ | Is he coming to life? He has two assists in two games this series |
| Ryan Dzingel | ▲ | Everything's going right except the scoring - he has to get more than one goal soon, right? |
| Mike Hoffman | ▲ | He's just been a beast, and would probably have a goal if the powerplay could get going |
| Chris Kelly | ━ | Hasn't played |
| Clarke MacArthur | ━ | Missed most of Game 2, but he says he's good to go for Game 3 |
| Chris Neil | ━ | Hasn't played since Game 82 |
| Jean-Gabriel Pageau | ▲ | See Biggest Gains |
| Tom Pyatt | + | Has now been cleared to play, but likely won't unless they decide MacA is too hurt |
| Bobby Ryan | ━ | He's winning the puck possession battle, but no points yet |
| Zack Smith | ━ | Just one point, but he's made Kelly expendable which is probably worth an up arrow on its own |
| Viktor Stålberg | ━ | Showed great hustle - probably deserves a point by now |
| Mark Stone | ━ | Got a goal, but really should have three or four this series |
| Kyle Turris | ▲ | Two assists, and a game-saving stop on a wrap-around |
| Tommy Wingels | ▲ | The Sens' best possession guy. It's great having a completely fourth line that Boucher trusts. |