Three Stars of the Week: Week 15

It was a week that tested the resilience of this fan base with 3 late night starts that were all worth staying up for. An honourable mention to the fans who stayed up to watch the games until the very end including a game that went to overtime and another that ended after the 1AM marker on a weekday.

While they couldn’t complete the sweep; it was certainly a great week for the Sens with some easy choices for top honours:

1) Anders Nilsson - most Sens fans are still being cautious about their excitement over Nilsson and rightfully so but his 2-1-0 performance this week is promising. He earned back to back starts and managed to be the top star in both of the games. It was apparent that the team was feeding off his confidence even in the loss against the Sharks.

2) Bobby Ryan - if Ryan is ever going to be an attractive trade target, now is a perfect time. He is currently rocking a 7-game point streak and scored back to back game-tying goals against the Ducks and Kings this week.

3) Christian Wolanin - I will never understand why we had to wait this long to see more of Wolanin in the lineup. Given the opportunity this week, he earned the approval of many including Guy Boucher himself. Wolanin had the highest time on ice against the Sharks, playing a little over 23 minutes. He was inserted in the lineup against the Kings after an injury to Ben Harpur and didn’t seem out of place at any point in time.

Trending Up:

• Brady Tkachuk - it is frustrating to watch all his chances not go in, but the chances he is getting are fantastic. Not only is Tkachuk getting under everyone’s skin, but he was also a threat every time he was in the offensive zone this week. The goals will come eventually, but it’s nice to see the quality of chances this young rookie is getting every game.
• Cody Ceci - Nothing was particularly dazzling from Ceci this week, but I felt there were no glaring mistakes from him. He had a solid week despite only racking up one point.
• Chris Tierney - the streaky forward doesn’t always stand out, but I felt his 2-goal performance against the Kings earned him some praise. He also added an assist on Ryan’s tying goal against the Ducks to make up for the quiet last week he had.
• Mark Stone and Colin White: their combined effort on the OT goal broke the dreaded streak! /

Trending Down:

• Magnus Paajarvi - most games I forget he’s on the team and this week the impression was not very different.
• Ben Harpur - he earned a start over Wolanin against the Ducks because of his physicality. Not only did he not have a good game but the tough guy got himself injured being the physical force we so desperately needed (according to Boucher)./

Who to Watch

• Thomas Chabot’s progress is coming along quite well according to the team; it’s safe to say everyone is excited to see him back in the lineup.
• The next game is against the Colorado Avalanche; Duchene’s infamous former team. It’s also his first game back after his short paternity leave so I am looking forward for the new father to have an inspired game./