Ups and Downs: Week 9
Karlsson's up and Cowen's down in this week's rankings
Not a great week for the Senators, but they still pulled four out of eight points. Losses to the Flyers and Rangers were balanced out by overtime wins over the Blackhawks and the Islanders.
Biggest gains: Erik Karlsson
Six points on the week moved him up to first in the Eastern Conference, two ahead of Mike Cammalleri (!!), and six ahead of his closest competitors in the Atlantic Division, two of whom also happen to play for the Sens. Not to mention the Sens are so much better with him on the ice:
Every 60 minutes of 5-on-5 with Karlsson, Sens get 1.32 more attempts than opposition. Every 60 minutes without, opposition gets 16.59 more
— Adnan (@sens_adnan) December 4, 2015
Biggest losses: Jared Cowen
Cowen is yet again showing he just can't compete as a second-line defenceman. To be fair to him, Ceci hasn't been helping much, but Ceci's good game against the Flyers bumps him up just enough to not get biggest losses on the week.
| Goaltenders | Trend | Notes |
| Craig Anderson |  | He had a pretty good week overall, but to me he looks pretty tired. I'd really like to see Dave Cameron give Driedger a shot sometime, especially on the second half of a back-to-back. |
| Andrew Hammond |  | Get well soon Hammond! Ottawa needs a backup goalie they trust. |
| Chris Driedger | | Ottawa needs a backup goalie they trust |
| Defensemen | ||
| Mark Borowiecki | | Borowiecki met my admittedly low expectations for the week. |
| Cody Ceci |  | Not a good week for Ceci at all. If he's not scoring points, he isn't looking great on the defensive end of things either |
| Jared Cowen | | See Biggest Losses |
| Erik Karlsson |  | See Biggest Gains |
| Marc Methot | | Currently on pace for 7 goals on the season, which would be a career high. |
| Chris Phillips | | Hi Chris! |
| Chris Wideman | | Expected to drive possession, and he was a positive possession player in 3/4 games this week. That's ok. |
| Patrick Wiercioch | | Made it into one game this week as a seventh d-man, but he looked fine. Probably still a better option than four of the defencemen who play regularly. |
| Forwards | ||
| Alex Chiasson | | Pretty good. |
| Dave Dziurzynski | | I'm pretty happy with his couple games. He has a better shot than I remember, and even got an assist. |
| Mike Hoffman | | Four more goals this week. What a player he has become |
| Curtis Lazar | | Pretty mediocre week for Lazar |
| Clarke MacArthur | | Still still still out. |
| Milan Michalek | | Could be out a long time |
| Chris Neil | | Once again a positive possession player. Where has this Chris Neil been the last three seasons? |
| Jean-Gabriel Pageau | | Good news for Pageau is that the Sens play Montreal again this week. |
| Shane Prince | | He had a fine week. I think he's the best fit to take the last top-line wing spot. |
| Bobby Ryan | | Had a pretty up-and-down week, but that great game against the Blackhawks tips the scales in the up direction |
| Zack Smith | | The fourth line is still playing pretty well. |
| Mark Stone | | Had two great goals this week. He may not be making $7-million per year, but I still think he deserves more of a shot with the top line than Ryan. |
| Kyle Turris | | Ottawa dodged a real bullet that their #1 centre's injury against the Isles wasn't nearly as bad as it looked. |
| Mika Zibanejad | | Not as big of a bullet, but I think Ottawa is still a lot better off with Z-bad still in the lineup. |
Special thanks to our friend winterion at Japers' Rink for our icons!