Silver Nuggets: Scoring Woes of the Red, Black and Golds

Soooo...

Things could be better, eh? I mean, the Washington Capitals did the Senators a huge favour last night by taking out the Jets, but the Sens still need to win a game to get into the playoffs. They face the Capitals on Thursday before two weekend games against the Flyers and Bruins.

To win those games, the Sens will need to score some goals. I feel like Denis Potvin in his "keys to the game" segment by saying that, but the fact is, the Senators are having a devil of a time scoring goals. You have to go back 13 games and nearly a calendar month to find a game in which the Senators scored more than 3 goals. Out of those 13 games, the Sens only scored 3 goals in 4 of them. The last 11 games have seen the Sens score 3 goals only twice.

Now, I know what the numbers say. Our CORSI and Fenwick numbers have been very good. Hell, this post was inspired by this tweet from Graeme Nichols today:

In last 11 games since March 28th games vs the Rangers, the Sens have shot 5.12%. That is atrocious.

— The 6th Sens (@6thSens) April 24, 2013

That HAS to turn around, right?

Well, yes and no. From someone who has watched all those games, there have been chances that I cannot believe haven't found the net. There have also been a lot of harmless shots from the perimeter that NHL goalies should handle.

There are a couple great excuses for this, of course. Their names are Jason Spezza and Erik Karlsson, the architects of the Senators high flying offence last season and the only two elite players on the payroll. With both of them watching in suits, and with the rest of the team being asked for more than they can normally provide, the struggles aren't shocking. But if the Sens want any part of the playoffs, they might want want to find the net, and soon.

Don't want to be all doom and gloom so I'll end on this note: The Senators have scored 3 goals only twice in the last 11 games; once against the Capitals and once against the Flyers.

Sens Links:

• Bobby gets you primed for the AHL playoffs with his weekly roundup! [SSS]
• The Welcome to Your Karlsson Years Guys flirt with the idea of the Sens missing out. [WTYKY]
• Scoring chances vs Penguins highlight the crazy amount of special teams in that game. [6thSens]
• Andre Benoit is the Masterton nominee from the Senators after his long, arduous road to the NHL. Josh Harding is a lock for the award but its nice to see Benoit get some love from the local media. [SE]
• Scanlan says its go time for Sens. [Scanlan]

League Links:

• Recapping the Jets loss [CBC]
• Final Central Scouting Rankings still have Seth Jones at #1. [NHL]
• And if you are into that sort of thing you can vote on the cover athlete for NHL 14. Senators Craig Anderson and Milan Michalek are there for the choosing. [EA]

Lastly, and most importantly, this story was breaking as I wrote this morning. We will have more on it later in the day:

Karlsson takaing a regular shift with Methot. Would appear he makes his return tomorrow. #sens

— Bruce Garrioch (@SunGarrioch) April 24, 2013