Ottawa Senators Strengths and Weaknesses Through 20 Games

On September 10th, I wrote an article about how crucial the first 20 games were going to be this season for the Ottawa Senators. Here’s what I wrote to end that article: “There are no excuses for a poor start to the season… By the start of December, there’s no reason for Senators fans to already be thinking about the draft. Coming away with at least 23-25 points in their first 20 games is essential in allowing the Senators to play meaningful games come April.”

The Senators seemed to be on their way to a rock solid first 20 games. They sat at 16 points through 15 games and were dominating the Philadelphia Flyers in game number 16. Well, you know what happened from there. They collapsed against the Flyers, losing in overtime, and followed that with four more losses, all in regulation. After 20 games, they sit at 8-11-1, good for just 17 points. Their .425 point percentage puts them as the sixth worst team in the entire NHL. Let’s take a deeper dive into the first quarter of the Ottawa Senators season.

READ MORE: Solving the Ottawa Senators Consistency Issues

The Bright Spots

Tim Stützle’s offensive and physical play have been top notch all season (Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press via AP)

The biggest positive of all has to be the play of Tim Stützle. His effort and skill level has been on display just about every game. He is currently on pace for just under 100 points and over 150 hits. He’s putting in the effort at both ends of the rink, too.

Here are a few other forwards who played well during the first 20 games:

• Adam Gaudette, who managed eight goals despite playing only 10 minutes per game.
• Drake Batherson, who scored 20 points in 20 games.
• Brady Tkachuk, who leads the team with 10 goals, and sits second in the NHL with 92 hits.
• Josh Norris, who is on pace for over 30 goals, all the while developing as a two way player.

All the players mentioned above have contributed to the Senators 29% power play, which ranks fifth best in the league. Their power play does a great job with zone entries, and when they’re in the zone, they don’t stand in place. Their movement paired with quick passing has led to such a strong part of their game. Eight different Sens have scored with the man advantage.

On the backend, the Chabot-Jensen duo has to be the biggest positive. The combination of playing with Jensen and the coaching change seems to have done wonders for Chabot’s game. Jensen, meanwhile, plays hard, shift after shift. He is exactly the type of veteran that this team needed, with the young players like Bernard-Docker and Kleven all being able to learn about how to truly compete in the defensive zone.

Goaltending Issues

The lesser play of Linus Ullmark has be a big problem for the Senators (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press via AP)

Now, for the negatives. Among goalies with at least five starts, Linus Ullmark ranks 51st with a dreadful .881 save percentage. He’s given up at least four goals in six of his 12 starts. Last season, he gave up four goals or more in just nine of his 39 starts. The year prior, when he won the Vezina, he only gave up four goals or more once! The problems I’ve seen from Ullmark are being slow to react, and having trouble holding onto the puck. He’s giving up some juicy rebounds, especially off his glove. The Ottawa Senators are not good enough to make the playoffs with bad goaltending. It’s time for Ullmark to get going.

Lack of Production from Middle Six Forwards

Shane Pinto has not contributed enough offensively through 20 games (Justin Tang/Canadian Press via AP)

I recently wrote an article that speaks to this issue. Pinto, Greig, Amadio and Perron have combined to score just five goals in the Senators first 20 games. In case you missed it, the Ottawa Senators put Zack MacEwan on waivers on Sunday. Zack Ostapchuk has been called up in his place. In reality, MacEwan is a 12th/13th forward, not a player that’s going to move the needle a whole lot. Despite his lesser role, he managed as many goals as Amadio and Greig, while outscoring both Pinto and Perron up to this point in the season. That speaks to the struggles of those middle six forwards.

Poor Team Defense

The Senators are once again a bottom 10 team in goals against, giving up 3.25 goals per game. Team defense takes all hands on deck. It starts with the goalie making the saves he’s supposed to make. Well, that’s not happening. Then, it’s about the defensemen playing hard-nosed, smart hockey. Too often, the Senators d-men make a bad pinch, give the puck away up the boards, miscommunicate coverage in front, or just don’t win those 50-50 battles.

After that, it’s about a forward group committing to two-way hockey, but that’s more than just skating hard on the back check. I don’t think the Senators forwards have the issue of not caring about the defensive zone. It’s more about their lack of attention to detail at that end of the rink. Too often, they’re caught watching the puck, not realizing their man has got open. Too often, they think their teammate is going to do something that he doesn’t, leaving the whole team vulnerable for a chance against.

Sanderson and Zub Struggles

It’s hard to make sense of the poor play from Sanderson and Zub.  If there was one part of the Ottawa Senators defense that fans were sure about, it was that they had a rock solid first pairing on defense. Last season, Sanderson was on the ice for 68 even strength goals for. Zub was on for 60. That’s just under one per game for both of them. This season, Zub’s been on for just two in 11 games, while Sanderson’s been on for only 11 in 20 games.

It was easy to blame Zub’s injury for Sanderson’s lesser play, but the struggles have continued since Zub’s return. My unsolicited advice? Commit to the defensive side of the ice. A great example was the goal that Travis Konecny scored, getting behind Sanderson for a breakaway goal. With his increased offensive role, it seems like Sanderson is looking to create more often offensively. Perhaps he should go back to basics, taking care of things in his own zone with his great effort and skill level. From there, offense might come naturally.

As for Zub, he needs to be a whole lot better in his own zone. He’s made a few very weak plays up the boards that have led to goals against. Before the season, I was hoping Jensen could be a second Zub. Now, it’s Zub needing to match the play of Jensen.

To finish on a positive note, I do believe that Sanderson and Zub will get back on track. If that can happen, the Ottawa Senators will have a great top four on defense. That should help the goaltending, as well. It needs to happen soon, though, or it’ll be yet another season without playoff hockey in Ottawa.