Senators Ups and Downs: Week 17
This week saw the Senators return to action, but not winning, as hard-fought efforts against Buffalo (pre-All-Star break), New Jersey, and Detroit before fumbling one away against the Islanders. It was an ugly week as the team managed no points out of a possible six. They have just one point in their last five games. Yikes.
Biggest Gains: Alex Kovalev
5P (3G, 2A) in his last three games. Kovalev is blazing. Maybe he's motivated by the thought of auditioning for other teams, but whatever it is, Kovalev is doing his part to help the team score all of a sudden.
Biggest Loses: Brian Elliott
Meanwhile Elliott is doing his part to help the team get the highest draft pick they can. He's practically giving up an average of three goals a period this week, including a short side special that turned out to be the game-winner against the Red Wings. Elliott has become the king of the soft goal this season. That's not gonna fly.
| Goalies | Trend | Notes |
| Brian Elliott |  | See "Biggest Losses." |
| Pascal Leclaire | | Placed on long-term IR this week. Most likely won't play for the team again. |
| Robin Lehner |  | His intensity is pretty awesome, but he has a long way to go before he's ready to be an NHL starter. |
| Defensemen | ||
| Filip Kuba | | Kuba made a lot of mistakes this week, and though that's not uncommon this year, it's still incredibly disappointing. |
| Chris Phillips | | I didn't feel he played particularly bad this week, but his stats just don't justify anything but a down arrow, because mediocre play just isn't good enough. |
| Sergei Gonchar | | Plus-three in a 7-goal loss to Detroit. That's pretty good. Minus-three in a 5-goal loss to New York. That's pretty bad. |
| Brian Lee | | Lee continues to be really average, which is good for him, because average is good enough to play in this defensive corps. |
| Erik Karlsson |  | Was on a three-game power play assist streak that was broken Saturday against the Islanders. |
| Chris Campoli | | Showed flashes of the defenseman he could be with a three-point (1G, 2A) night against Detroit, and followed it up with a two-assist game against the Islanders. Five points in three games was good enough to get Kovalev "Biggest Gains" but Campoli deserved consideration also. |
| Matt Carkner |  | Remains out with a lower body injury. |
| Forwards | ||
| Jason Spezza | | Plagiarizing Darren: Spezza didn't register a point tonight, but that's not due to lack of effort -- he had four shots on goal along with a ridiculous 8 shot attempts that were blocked by the Islanders. He was also 70% on his team-high 23 faceoffs in the faceoff circle, despite his shoulder still not being 100% |
| Alex Kovalev | | See "Biggest Gains." |
| Daniel Alfredsson | | Minus-6 in the last three games with only two assists. |
| Milan Michalek | | Despite two goals against Detroit, Michalek has cooled off a little. His knee, and by extension, his speed, is clearly back. |
| Mike Fisher | | Played very well (1G, 1A) against the Islanders, but had nothing to show for his efforts against the Red Wings or Devils. |
| Nick Foligno | | Also cooling off with just one assist in his last three games. |
| Chris Kelly | | Kelly continues to be the ideal third line center. |
| Chris Neil | | Neil bagged one of the easier goals of his life against the Islanders. |
| Jarkko Ruutu | | Returned from injury to do nothing against Detroit. |
| Peter Regin | | Also had a three-point night against the Red Wings and an assist against the Islanders. That's the Regin I remember from last year. |
| Jesse Winchester | | Since missing the game against the Devils for personal reasons, Winchester has done nothing. We hope everything is OK. |
| Ryan Shannon | | Ice cold, Shannon has just one shot on goal in the last three games. |
| Zack Smith | | Got into a fight just three minutes into the Islanders game. We think you all know why. |