Ottawa Senators Three Stars of the Week: Weeks 15 & 16
It’s been a quiet, ugly week
Over the last two weeks, the Senators only played three games thanks to the All-Star break followed by the mandatory week off. And may that was for the best, because the games they played weren’t pretty and all ended in losses. The entered the break with a flat performance against a Coyotes team that was missing almost every player on the team you’ve heard of. Then they returned from the break to lose against the Penguins, and then played one of the worst games in recent memory against the Red Wings. Tough to pick three standouts of these weeks.
Three stars
1. Ryan Dzingel - He did put up three points in that span, and seemed to look on par with the standard that’s had him on pace for 30+ goals this season.
2. Thomas Chabot - I mean, he wasn’t really a standout in the games that took place, but he did have a stellar effort in the shootout at the All-Star Game. Like I said, slim pickin’s.
Silky smooth from @ThomasChabot1. pic.twitter.com/B90q09peQU
— NHL GIFs (@NHLGIFs) January 26, 2019
3. Christian Jaros - He didn’t really stand out to me either, but the stats afterwards say he was among the team’s better possession players. And really not standing out is probably a good thing in a series of awful games.
Trending up
- Rudolfs Balcers looks like he’s up to stay, with Nick Paul put on waivers yesterday. I mean, he’s been getting 10 minutes a night so obviously Boucher likes him (/sarcasm)
- As discussed in the latest This Amelnykan Life podcast, Colin White went with Thomas Chabot to the All-Star game, which is a lot of fun for me as a fan. I’m happy to see these guys drafted three spots apart and born on the same day having fun together. And considering the teams had another week off, why not go to California and then enjoy some more time off afterwards?
- Another great break moment was that Ben Harpur and Brady Tkachuk went together to the Bahamas. Nice to see these teammates can like each other outside of hockey./
Trending down
- Nick Paul was put on waivers yesterday. So it’s likely his time with the Sens is done. I can’t imagine the Sens offering him anything other than a two-way contract for next season, and I imagine he’ll want to go to a team that might give him another NHL shot.
- Craig Anderson has had a couple of off games recently. Hopefully it’s just post-injury, post-break rust. It should be nice for him to have a backup the coach will actually play though.
- Cody Ceci shared (and later deleted) and Instagram photo of a small gecko on his chair with a caption commenting there was no way he was going near that thing. Which proves that in vacationing just as in hockey, Ceci struggles with even the smallest of challenges/
Who to watch this week
Rudolfs Balcers, freshly off not being sent down, should be good for a couple points this week.