Five Thoughts for a Friday - Let's Bee Friends
There's a picture of a bee on it
February 14th if nothing else marks the midway marks the midway point of a typically cold and unforgiving month in Ottawa. So to have an Ottawa Senators team that actually figures in the Eastern Conference playoff mix sure makes a big difference through some of the darkest winter nights until the days get appreciably longer and a little more mild. We can certainly appreciate the difference both in terms of having pleasant things to write about and having more engagement from you the readers. We have another lull week with the stupid, gimmick tournament but then the trade deadline will creep up on us might fast and things get really real. I can't wait.
Your NHL Team Shutout Leaders
Even if others have already written about it, how can this not stand out as the most remarkable development for the 2024-25 Ottawa Senators? How many NHL teams have eight team shutouts at the break? One. The Ottawa Senators. Other teams have better save percentages and/or fewer goals against but the Ottawa Senators whose lord and saviour Linus Ullmark has missed significant time with injury, whose Anton Forsberg has two bionic knees, and whose Leevi Meriläinen came into the season with virtually no NHL experience have eight more shutouts than any of the haters would have predicted.
Shorthanded Nightmare
Speaking of random statistical categories that the Senators currently lead, Ottawa (and also the New York Rangers) have scored six more shorties than they've allowed. And as much as this seems like one of those random shooting luck things bound to regress, naturalsttatrick ranks Ottawa third in the NHL in high difficulty Corsi for percentage on the penalty kill (15.79) so Ottawa has genuinely honed this random skill that mostly has wild hater vibes and provides an absurd amount of entertainment value in small doses. Ottawa also somehow has the fourth most powerplay goals in the league despite their comical ineptitude with the extra attacker. It probably helps that for their lack of chances on the powerplay, Ottawa doesn't give up much to their shorthanded opponents (5.39 shots against per 60 per naturalsttatrick to lead the league).
The Josh Norris Enigma
Speaking of success in really niche departments, I don't know if many Senators capture the concept of Senergy like our favourite himbo. I'll probably never convince most fans not to sweat Norris's contract given his injury history and weird statline year over year but look who has the second most goals on this team despite playing six fewer games than all of Ottawa's other top forwards. I don't think any of you would vouch for signing Norris' contract again today with all of the knowledge we have now, but considering these goal-starved Senators also desperately depend on Adam Gaudette to keep the offence viable, I find myself drawn back to the fact that Norris provides the most valuable commodity in hockey for a team with very few other options right now.
Nick Jensen Legitimate Lady Byng Campaign
In case you haven't noticed, this has turned into a statistical trivia thread (not at all by design (rarely do I start writing with any kind of design (is anyone else running on five hours if sleep or less?))). Did you know that only one defender in the NHL this season with over 1000 all-situation minutes has less than five minutes of penalties. Among defenders we have an eight-way tie for runner-up at eight penalty minutes and oh hey look it's Jake Sanderson. Thomas Chabot has a perfectly respectable 20 minutes. Artem Zub and Tyler Kleven have 18 minutes each (although they haven't played as many minutes). If the Sens have overachieved and/or ridden some sort of PDO high into a wild card spot, I'd argue that part of it has to do with having their top four defenders on the ice when it matters and not in the penalty box. What a concept. Pay attention, Brady.
Room for Improvement
I think every one of us has ideas for fixing the Ottawa Senators (although in fairness this is the least broken Sens team we've seen in a decade) and I'll add this very trivial one to the list: road starts? The Sens have a minus 68 shot differential (which adds up to just about two shots on average) in first periods on the road that translates into a minus 19 goal differential (less than one on average for what it's worth) on the road in third periods. I would imagine a lot of those third period goals against amount to empty netters and garbage timers. I can only hypothesize but what else is new. All said, I think the Sens have put themselves in a good position regardless of what happens at the deadline and how players fare on the injury front. Go Sens Go.
