Ottawa Senators Ups and Downs: Week 2

The Senators managed to go 1-1-1 this week. After beating the struggling Blue Jackets, they were shut out by the Penguins, then lost to the Predators in a shootout.

Biggest gains: Mike Hoffman
His quick release finally netted him a goal this season after what seemed like a ridiculous number of post hits. After scoring against the Jackets, he was the team's best player against the Preds, putting up two goals and an assist.

Biggest losses: Chris Neil

It wasn't easy to pick a biggest loser this week, especially since so many players got points in the seven-goal game against #Lumbus. Neil's drop to only six minutes per games gets him the nod. It's clear Cameron doesn't trust him, but it's not clear why he still gets played every game. And with Borowiecki doing all the fighting, it's not quite clear why Neil is in the lineup each game.

Goaltenders	Trend	Notes
Craig Anderson		Hard to fault a guy with a .922 save pct. over the week
Andrew Hammond		Hasn't played yet this season
Defensemen
Mark Borowiecki		Fought in each game this week, and had a solid possession game when paired with Karlsson. That pairing with Cowen is a black hole though.
Cody Ceci		I'm liking Ceci's game so far this year. He's getting PP and PK time, and managed to be the team's top player Corsi-wise against the Penguins.
Jared Cowen		Cowen is the team's most-used penalty killer, where his long reach is a benefit and his poor decision-making doesn't matter. His pairing with Wideman did well possession-wise, though it's only a ten-minute sample. That pairing with Borowiecki is still a black hole though.
Erik Karlsson		I gave him a pretty harsh "Biggest Losses" last week, but five more assists have him first in the league in that category now.
Marc Methot		Shouldn't be out too long due to illness, especially since the team doesn't play again until Thursday. Scored a goal this week to match his goal output from last season in one-ninth the games
Chris Phillips		No comment
Chris Wideman		Played his first-ever NHL game, and looked more than competent with Jared Cowen
Patrick Wiercioch		Possession-wise, he and Ceci have been more or less reliable. Still probably the most polarizing person on the roster.
Forwards
Alex Chiasson		I don't know what to make of Chiasson. He seems alright, but it's hard to look good offensively on Chris Neil's wing. Then he wasn't a good fit with the Zibanejad line, though it looks like he may have a home on the Lazar-Pageau line.
Mike Hoffman		See Biggest Gains
Curtis Lazar		He and Pageau are looking great together
Clarke MacArthur		Minimal contact against Columbus has him out indefinitely. Is it time to start worrying that the concussions might be having a long-term effect on him?
Milan Michalek		With MacArthur's injury, we found he wasn't a great fit on the Zibanejad-Ryan line. He's still a solid contributor though.
Chris Neil		See Biggest Losses
Jean-Gabriel Pageau		Looks great with Lazar. The best third line in hockey may be back
Shane Prince		Looks fine, but I don't think he's the best complement on the Smith-Neil line. I'd like to see what he can do given more of a scoring role.
Bobby Ryan		Hard to give a down arrow to a guy who went point-per-game, but he really hasn't looked great other than that game against Columbus. Definitely not as good as he's being paid to be
Zack Smith		He's a perfectly adequate fourth-line centre
Mark Stone		He had four points in three games this week. Ottawa's top line has been clicking, at least.
Kyle Turris		He had four points in three games this week. Four goals are good enough for fifth in the league so far.
Mika Zibanejad		Just like Ryan, I hate to be harsh on a guy with three points in three games. But other than the Columbus game, he hasn't looked like a second-line centre. I think they really are missing someone like MacArthur or Hoffman on the other wing.

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