Puck Prose
Fansided

NHL Mid-Season Grades: Atlantic Division Breakdown

By Matt Duscharme

Jan 17, 2017; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs forward Auston Matthews (34) and Buffalo Sabres forward Jack Eichel (15) look for the puck at the Air Canada Centre. Toronto defeated Buffalo 4-3. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 17, 2017; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs forward Auston Matthews (34) and Buffalo Sabres forward Jack Eichel (15) look for the puck at the Air Canada Centre. Toronto defeated Buffalo 4-3. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 8
Next
nhl power rankings
nhl power rankings /

OTTAWA SENATORS

Current Record: 24-15-4 (52 points)

Ottawa has focused largely on the defensive side of the game this year and in doing sit lead the division in fewest goals-against-per-game. With unforeseen issues arising with goaltender Craig Anderson, he’s showed great heart in all the games he’s played since then. And on top of that, the team has had no issues with stopping people from putting the puck in the net.

FORWARDS: C-

While Ottawa leads the division for fewest goals-against-per-game, their offense has dried up significantly cause of this.

Since three forwards have reached over thirty points (Kyle Turris, Mark Stone, and Mike Hoffman). The team as a whole has only scored 110 total goals, placing them last in the division.

Ryan Dzingel and Derick Brassard sit in the middle with 20+ points a piece. After that everything is quite low.

Four players currently sit in the teen area of scoring, with Tom Pyatt sitting at the bottom with 13 points and Zack Smith sits on top with 19.

DEFENSE: A

Dion Phaneuf
Dion Phaneuf /

with 18 points.

But what’s so great about the Ottawa d-core this year, is they’re focusing more on the defensive aspects, and in doing so lead the division with only 110 goals-against.

Along with Phaneuf, Ottawa has a lot more shut down defenseman in Chris Wideman, Marc Methot, Cody Ceci, and Mark Borowiecki all of whom average more than 20 minutes per game.

GOALIES: A-

Ottawa’s netminding had been great despite Craig Anderson having some very unfortunate personal issues.

And to help the team with that, they brought in Mike Condon and also have Andrew Hammond sharing the starting duties when Anderson is unable to play. And in doing so they have been pretty decent helping Ottawa stay first in the division for fewest goals-against.

BIGGEST SURPRISE: CRAIG ANDERSON

When everyone in the hockey world was shocked when Anderson announced his wife had cancer, he came back the next game and earned an emotional shutout in the process. And has been very solid every game he’s played, when he has been able to play. He’s not just the biggest surprise for his heart in terms of speaking about Ottawa, but also the entire NHL.

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT: ROOKIES

Ottawa’s biggest disappointment has to be their rookies and second-year players. They haven’t been able to play well enough to log a significant amount of ice time and also haven’t put up any points. Defenseman Fredrik Claesson leads the rookie core with nine games played but is tied with Casey Bailey, Ben Harpur, Buddy Robinson, Andreas Englund, Max McCormick, and Thomas Chabot with zero points.

OUTLOOK:

While Ottawa sits second in the division and currently sit in a playoff spot, the offense is going to need to step up in order for them to have any sort of post-season success.

Home/Atlantic