Silver Nuggets: Ottawa's record against playoff teams

The Ottawa Senators have a 24-14-6 record against the eastern conference, or 1.23 points per game. While the Senators have done slightly better against non-playoff teams, the spread isn't as big as one might think. Against the seven other playoff teams, Ottawa is 12-8-2 or 1.18 points/game while against the seven non-playoff teams, the Senators are 12-6-4 for 1.27 points/game. The Senators have won 12 out of 22 games against both the playoff and non-playoff teams, but had a couple extra overtime losses to the bottom seven.

In fact, Ottawa has at least a point per game against every eastern conference playoff team except Boston, against whom they are 0-3-0. Their games against non-playoff teams include a record of 0-2-1 against Washington and 1-2-0 against Montréal.

Considering potential first round opponents, the Senators match up well. Aside from the winless record against Boston, they are 2-1-0 against the Rangers, 3-0-0 against the Panthers, 1-0-1 against the Devils, 1-1-1 against the Flyers, 2-1-0 against the Penguins, 0-2-1 against the Capitals and 2-1-0 against the Jets. That is a combined 11-9-3 record against potential opponents.

Another interesting fact is that the Senators are only 7-8-1 against their own division while the Bruins are 13-3-0. In games against the other two eastern divisions as well as the west, the Senators have a 24-14-7 record for 55 points in 45 games (1.22 points/game) while the Bruins have a 22-17-2 record for 46 points in 41 games (1.12 points/game).

More after the jump.

Here are today's links:

• Recap from yesterday's big 6-0 win. (Silver Seven, Lighthouse Hockey, Ottawa Sun, Senators Extra)
• The Senators playoff odds are up to 84.8% with yesterday's win. (Sports Club Stats)
• Eugene Melnyk returned to Toronto radio to sing the praises of Erik Karlsson, saying that he could be one of the greatest defencemen of all time. OF ALL TIME! Melnyk also mentioned that Bryan Murray doesn't feel like the Senators need to add anything. (The 6th Sens)
• Does Erik Karlsson deserve to win the Norris? In the last 30 years, only five times has a defenceman won the scoring race by at least 15+ points like Karlsson looks likely to do. All five times, the defenceman finished second at the worst in voting. And if Karlsson can lead defencemen in goals, assists and points? In the last 30 years, that's happened 11 times and 9 times has resulted in a first or second place finish. The only two exceptions were when the defencemen finished with -18 and -25 plus-minus rating. (Sportsnet)
• Should the fact that Erik Karlsson doesn't regularly play the penalty kill disqualify him from the Norris? To me, if the Norris is for the best overall hockey player that is a defenceman, the winner should be Karlsson. If it is about performing in all aspects of the game, then Karlsson shouldn't win. (Welcome To Your Karlsson Years)
• The NHL's leaders front page is full of Senators. Jason Spezza is fourth in points, Erik Karlsson is third in assists and Craig Anderson is tied for fourth in wins. (NHL.com)
• Karlsson defends his good friend Andre Petersson after Petersson's comments about the city of Binghamton. (Ottawa Citizen)
• Sergei Gonchar wants to be a part of Ottawa's playoff run and Paul MacLean is happy to have him. (Ottawa Sun)
• Do you want to be an NHL insider? Here's how! (On The Forecheck)
• Is hockey returning to the pre-lockout days of calling hooking and clutching? Power plays are significantly down and only two NHL players are on pace for more than 41 goals right now. Steven Stamkos is on pace for 57 in 82 games and Evgeni Malkin is on pace for 46 in 75 games. In the first year after the lockout, five players hit 50+ and nine had 43 or more goals. Corey Perry led the league with 50 goals last year. (Ottawa Citizen)