Ottawa Senators Ups and Downs: Week 3

Biggest Gains: Shane Prince

Shane Prince should not be on the fourth line. But he is. And man, is he ever making that fourth line look good. Zack Smith and Chris Neil scored in the same game, that's the power of the Prince effect.

Biggest Losses: Jared Cowen

Jared, Jared, Jared. It looked like we were going to see a new and improved Jared Cowen this year after the first week, but things have taken a turn for the worst. Cowen needs to find his game very quickly, or else Cameron will be forced to substitute Wideman in and it may not be short term.

That might not be the worst thing, though.

Goaltenders	Trend	Notes
Craig Anderson		God knows what this team would look like without Craig Anderson. He's been nothing but stellar and hasn't missed a beat since the playoffs.
Andrew Hammond		Andrew Hammond looked like, well, a backup in his first start of the season against the New Jersey Devils. Nothing special, but his team let him down in the final minutes.
Defensemen
Jared Cowen		Jared, Jared, Jared. It looked like we were going to see a new and improved Jared Cowen this year after the first week, but things have taken a turn for the worst. Cowen needs to find his game very quickly, or else Cameron will be forced to substitute Wideman in and it may not be short term.
Mark Borowiecki		He's been miscast as a suitable replacement for Marc Methot, which is more on Dave Cameron than anyone. That being said, Borowiecki needs to be better. Much, much better.
Patrick Wiercioch		Wiercioch has looked slower than his normal self, and not as calm with the puck. His possession numbers are still where we expect them to be on the team, but the 25-year-old needs to step up his game.
Erik Karlsson		I know you're not going to like hearing it, but Karlsson had a rough two games last week. But Mark Borowiecki needs to take some of the blame.
Chris Wideman		Chris Wideman has been a breath of fresh air to this struggling defense corps. He leads the entire team in CF%, FF% and SF%. Someone just needs to convince Dave Cameron to let him stay.
Marc Methot		Losing Methot long term would be catastrophic. Take your time, Marc. We, and Erik, hope you get back soon. Help us Obi-Wan Marc, you're our only hope.
Cody Ceci		He scored a nice goal against the Coyotes last night, the only one Ottawa could muster. Ceci hasn't looked good enough to earn him a green arrow, though.
Chris Phillips		Oh, so we're still including him in these things?
Forwards
Kyle Turris		Though not pretty at all, Turris' minus-3 rating and failure to get on the scoresheet the past two games doesn't depict the week he had. He still looked like a No. 1 centre, just couldn't buy one.
Mark Stone		The greatest lie the Devil ever told was that Mark Stone was going to be another victim of the sophomore slump.
Mike Hoffman		Hopefully Hoffman will return on Wednesday, but for the time being, wow did Ottawa ever struggled without him. It was obvious they were missing speed and a scoring touch on Saturday.
Bobby Ryan		Bobby had an amazing assist last night against the Coyotes, but without a goal (that wasn't on an empty net) through eight games this season, I'm starting to get very worried.
Mika Zibanejad		Mika's game has looked strong.
Milan Michalek		Hardly noticed Michalek the past couple games.
Curtis Lazar		Get well soon, Curtis.
Shane Prince		Shane Prince should not be on the fourth line. But he is. And man, is he ever making that fourth line look good. Zack Smith and Chris Neil scored in the same game, that's the power of the Prince effect.
Chris Neil		What a game Chris Neil had, and on his 900th nonetheless. With a goal, an assist and a fight, it felt like we were watching the Neil from the mid 2000's. Of course, he didn't have a Gordie Howe Hat Trick every night back then, but it's been nice to see him make some progress.
Zack Smith		The fourth line was bumpin' against New Jersey. Smith got in on the action as well.
Alex Chiasson		Chiasson has been absolutely unnoticeable for the entire start of the season. But I haven't noticed any decline. So a dash will do.
Max McCormick		Average first game for the rookie.
Jean-Gabriel Pageau		Pageau has been put alongside a plethora of different linemates and he has flourished. Now if he could only score a goal against a team that isn't the Habs. Not complaining about the notorious Hab killing, though.
Clarke MacArthur		As much as the Senators need Clarke MacArthur back, they need him to take things slow. No rushing. Concussions aren't meant to be taken lightly.