Silver Nuggets: Matt Gilroy - bad or unlucky?

The general consensus has been that Matt Gilroy's time in Ottawa has been a disaster so far. Brought in to be an offensive defenceman, Gilroy has just a single point in 11 games since the trade. He's been very eager to jump into the rush but has very little to show for it. His defensive play has also left a lot to be desired.

Given his lack of offensive production, and his defensive problems, he was replaced by Matt Carkner on Saturday night. Taking a look at the Senators even strength scoring chances (courtesy of The 6th Sens) with Gilroy on the ice, things do look a little better for him.

His first game was the 1-0 win over Boston, even strength scoring chances were even at 7-7 with Gilroy on the ice. In the 2-1 loss to Chicago, in which Ottawa was outchanced 26-16 overall, the Senators actually outchanced Chicago 9-4 with Gilroy on the ice. Without Gilroy on, Chicago had a 22-7 lead on Ottawa. The 4-2 loss to Florida was the only game in which Ottawa was outchanced with Gilroy in, the chances being 3-4 against Ottawa. In the 7-3 win over Tampa Bay, chances were even at 7-7, and they were 5-0 in Ottawa's favour in the 4-1 win over the New York Rangers. Continuing with this theme, chances were 7-5 against Buffalo, 8-5 and 3-1 in the back-to-back games against Montréal. In the 3-1 loss to Toronto, once again Ottawa outchanced the opposition with Gilroy on the ice, this time by an 8-4 count. In his last two games, the chances were 5-2 against New Jersey and 5-4 in the demolition in Montréal on Friday.

So in the 11 games, Ottawa has outchanced the opposition in 8 games with Gilroy on the ice, been even in two, and was outchanced by the opposition just once. The total chances have been 67-43 in Ottawa's favour. This is not to say that he has been spectacular, the one point in 11 games against third line competition shows that he hasn't been. But the Senators are still creating far more scoring chances than they are allowing with Gilroy on the ice. A little better finishing (especially by Gilroy himself) and things might look a lot better.

More after the jump.

Here are today's links:

• An optimistic panel for tonight's game, with only two predicting a loss. Happily, Peter isn't among those and predicts 5-2 for the good guys. (Senators Extra)
• Game preview for tonight from the good people at Arctic Ice Hockey. Great blog by the way, one of the best hockey stats blogs out there. (Arctic Ice Hockey)
• Before the game against Pittsburgh, Eugene Melnyk said the Senators needed to win four out of the seven games to make the playoffs. Now they need to win three out of six then. (Senators Extra)
• The Senators have eased the pressure a little bit with a win over Pittsburgh. Jason Spezza says Ottawa has been defying the odds all season. (Ottawa Sun)
• Matt Carkner was happy to finally be part of a win. Ottawa hadn't won a game that Carkner played since 17 January. (Ottawa Sun)
• Nichols writes the case for signing Jason Garrison in the offseason. (The 6th Sens)
• David Rundblad seems to be getting his game together in the AHL and his teammates are impressed. (New England Hockey Journal)