Ottawa Senators Ups and Downs: Week 19
A promotion to first-line centre has Pageau up, while three healthy scratches have Wiercioch down
Ottawa had three losses this week: 4-2 to the Blue Jackets, 4-3 to the Avalanche, and 3-1 to the Red Wings. It's easy to forget the week started with a promising 5-1 thumping of the Lightning. All of that was overshadowed by the acquisition of Dion Phaneuf in a nine-player deal mid-week.
Biggest gains: Jean-Gabriel Pageau
Ottawa won't do well if he's the first-line centre for a long time, but right now it's going well. He's crushing it in the possession department, and that three-point game against the Bolts doesn't hurt either.
Biggest losses: Patrick Wiercioch
He only found his way into one game this week, and took six minutes in penalties (though four of them were incorrectly given to Borowiecki). It's looking more and more likely that he'll be traded before the deadline for pennies on the dollar.
| Goaltenders | Trend | Notes |
| Craig Anderson |  | He finished the week with a .939 save percentage. Did his part to keep his team in games. |
| Andrew Hammond |  | Hard to blame him for the loss against the Avalanche when he faced more than 10 shots on the powerplay. |
| Defensemen | ||
| Mark Borowiecki |  | If he can't help the Sens' PK, why is he still in the lineup every game? |
| Cody Ceci | | Ceci actually had a pretty good week possession-wise, capped by a bullet of a goal against the Jackets. |
| Erik Karlsson | | Four-point week? Ho hum. |
| Marc Methot | | Doing what he needs to |
| Dion Phaneuf | | Point-per-game with the Sens so far, which is pretty good. Jury's still out on how good Ceci-Phaneuf is though |
| Chris Phillips |  | Hi Chris! |
| Chris Wideman | | If he's not putting up points and not driving possession, I'm not sure why he's in the lineup over Patty W |
| Patrick Wiercioch | | See Biggest Losses |
| Forwards | ||
| Alex Chiasson | | Other than fighting for Karlsson, his week was awful |
| Ryan Dzingel | | Still looks the best of the forwards called up from Binghamton so far this season |
| David Dziurzynski | | Has guaranteed himself a spot on this list by being injured in the NHL |
| Mike Hoffman | | "Only" scored two points this week. Being saddled with Chiasson can't help |
| Curtis Lazar | | He's looked pretty good as the fourth-line centre |
| Clarke MacArthur | | The team needs him |
| Chris Neil | | Pretty average week for Neil. Managed to score a meaningless goal against the Avs |
| Jean-Gabriel Pageau | | See Biggest Gains |
| Nick Paul | | Didn't get into a game before being sent back down |
| Shane Prince | | Looks his spot in the lineup is finally solidified |
| Bobby Ryan | | Reuniting him with Z-bad hasn't gone according to plan |
| Zack Smith | | Still a pretty good week. He's looking like the best LW Pageau's had since Erik Condra |
| Mark Stone | | Cementing his place as the best RW on the team |
| Kyle Turris | | He's gotta still be injured, right? |
| Mika Zibanejad | | Had three points this week, but was a real liability in terms of possession |
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