Ottawa Senators Struggles, Highlights, Futures
The Ottawa Senators are in town tonight as the home-stand continues. In what was once a powerful division, the Buffalo Sabres and Ottawa Senators find themselves in similar boats. Rebuilding for the future.
The Senators however, are in an uncomfortable position. They are only fourteen points out of a playoff spot. Roll of the dice, but if things go there way they could still be playing hockey when the regular season ends. On the flip side of the coin, they are only fourteen points better than the Buffalo Sabres for last place in the league. That dice roll doesn’t work out for them, and they will be vetted in the draft lottery process.
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Eyes On Isles
The Senators are their own worst enemy. As Clark MaCarthur put in in the Ottawa Sun, they play to the level of their opponents – and they are snake bitten because of it.
Playing to the level of their opponent could be dangerous tonight, as they will either find themselves wondering why they gave up a critical two points to the Buffalo Sabres, who since the beginning of the year have only managed two wins and four points; or it could make for one ugly hockey game that is almost unwatchable.
Goaltending could be at the root of why the Senators are having issues putting wins together. Since taking over for the injured Craig Anderson, Rob Lehner has gone 1-4-0 and allowed 18 goals. The frustration level got so high when the Blue Jackets scored against him he threw his stick, and then went on to snap it over his knee.
But don’t just look at his most recent record, because as Don Brennan of the Ottawa Sun puts it, its not a great reflection of his ability. The Ottawa Senators have to be careful too, because giving up on Lehner could mean giving up on another goaltender too early. The Senators have given up on Brian Elliott and Ben Bishop, now both on very good teams that have a very good shot at a very long run. Verily, verily, life is but a dream right?
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It isn’t just the fact that the Ottawa Senators haven’t gotten great goaltending, their struggles are a direct result of their inability to score goals. Their last three games were regulation losses, and they only scored one goal in that stretch. Somehow, their opponents tonight have been in the same position, and could easily relate.
As trade deadline approaches, the Ottawa Senators and Buffalo Sabres find themselves in another race, the race for Evander Kane. If the Senators and Sabres get into a bidding war for the services of Evander Kane (and any other team for that matter) it could drive the price up for Kane.
The Ottawa Senators have other things on their plate when it comes to the future, and those things are already on their team. The Ottawa Senators needs Marc Methot more than Methot needs the Ottawa Senators.
My good friend and former FanSided editor at SenShot writes up this piece on the value of Marc Methot at his new haunt, Hockey Buzz.