Three Stars of Week 10: Ennis, Duclair, Brown
With the team scoring some goals this week, three forwards take centre stage
The Sens were a mixed bag, performance-wise this week. The 5-2 loss to the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday was humbling, but the team rebounded well with a 5-2 win against the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday before falling 4-3 to the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday afternoon in a hard-fought affair.
As for the top performers, this week’s Three Stars:
- Tyler Ennis: The diminutive speedster posted four points in three games this week, including a goal and two assists in the Sens’ win on Wednesday night in Edmonton. He also played a season-high 19:38 in the loss against the Flyers on Saturday. Ennis has a reputation for being a dependable, defensively responsible forward but his offensive production this season has been a pleasant surprise.
- Anthony Duclair: The Duke had three goals and an assist this week, including two in the losing effort Saturday against the Flyers. The skilled forward continues to make the most of the opportunity afforded to him in Ottawa. Duclair’s utilized his speed to create offense all year long, and his short-handed goal against Philadelphia was the perfect example of how he can also use it to create havoc defensively.
- Connor Brown: Brown broke a long goal-less drought against Edmonton on Wednesday, and he added a couple of assists to boot this week. Brown’s always going to give a consistent effort on defense, and he affects the game in many positive ways, but he needs to score at least a bit to justify the huge amount of ice-time he’s playing. This week he did, and he was full marks as the team’s third star.
Trending Up:
Dylan DeMelo posted two assists this week, and generally continued to provide steady, reliable play. DeMelo’s not ringing up the counting numbers you might hope for, but his partnership with Thomas Chabot has been a steadying force on an otherwise shaky blue line.
Trending Down:
Anders Nilsson has struggled recently, allowing 13 goals on his last 86 shots for an .849 SV% across his last four appearances. When things go as badly as they did against Vancouver on Tuesday night, Nilsson allowed four goals on 15 shots before being pulled after 20 minutes, the blame usually doesn’t belong to the goalie alone. Still, Nilsson’s slipped a bit the last couple of weeks after a superb start to the season.
Who to Watch for:
Jonathan Davidsson was recalled and played on Saturday vs. the Flyers. With the top guns humming along in Belleville, Davidsson seems like he might see a couple more games with the big team.