Ups and Downs: Week 24
Ups and downs is a feature that looks at the individual performances of the Ottawa Senators during the past week.
Hey, not a bad week at all. 7 out of a possible 8 points, and the playoff chances are now back into natural numbers.
Biggest Gains: Robin Lehner. In the previous week over three games, Lehner allowed 13 goals, had a save percentage of .870 and a record of 0-3-0. This week over three games? 8 goals, .933 SV% and a 2-0-1 record. Simply having a better week was a low bar, and Lehner went well beyond that.
Biggest Losses: Bobby Ryan. Season ending surgery.
| Goaltenders | Trend | Notes |
| Craig Anderson |  | Anderson was basically the reason the Sens |
| Robin Lehner | | See biggest gains |
| Defensemen | ||
| Cody Ceci |  | Ceci was so-so in three games, but scratched for the fourth. A goal against Chicago saves him from the red arrow. |
| Jared Cowen | | Cowen was not that bad this week (relatively, for him), and the game winner against Calgary is enough to balance out the negatives this time around |
| Eric Gryba | | Had some rough moments, but was also playing with Cowen all week |
| Erik Karlsson | | The man is breaking franchise records. |
| Marc Methot | | He had a good week, but he did that last week too. The bar for an up arrow was just too high for him this week. |
| Chris Phillips | | Missed most of the week to injury, only playing one full game. Sure, his penalty in the second period lead to Calgary taking the lead, but it's still an improvement from last week. |
| Patrick Wiercioch | | He actually played this week! Three games! He even looked pretty good doing it. Maybe he should play more? |
| Forwards | ||
| Erik Condra | | Say it with me now - short handed goal by Erik Condra. |
| Colin Greening |  | Looked good against Tampa, but bad against Florida and worse against Chicago. One out of three is just not good at all |
| Ales Hemsky | | Three more points for the newest Senator. |
| Mike Hoffman | | Solid effort from Hoffman, but couldn't get a taste of last week's success on the score sheet. |
| Matt Kassian | | Over three times as many penalty minutes as TOI. His fight against Westgarth sapped momentum (it literally killed a rush) and may earn him a 10 game suspension. |
| Clarke MacArthur | | 3 goals, 3 assists and an important part of a line that just runs circles around the competition. |
| Milan Michalek | | A 4 point week has started to bring more Sens fans around to the idea of resigning him. |
| Chris Neil | | Managed to not cost the team with his trips to the box, but had a rough go against Florida and was absolutely embarrassed by Chicago in what was possibly his worst game of the season. Ironically, the one game this week he managed to stay out of the box. |
| Bobby Ryan |  | See biggest losses |
| Z. Smith | | Similar story to Neil - rough outing against Florida, and the Hawks skated circles around him. |
| Jason Spezza | | Another three point week for the Captain, maintaining his high level of play from last week. |
| Mark Stone | | Called up to fill in for Ryan, Stone has a goal and three assists this week and has fit in well with Turris and MacArthur. |
| Kyle Turris | | Seven points, and continues to skate circles around the competition with MacArthur. Probably would have made biggest gains if Lehner hadn't had such a big hole to climb out of. |
| Mika Zibanejad | | Got an assist, but shots are down, TOI is down, and had a rough week with face offs. |
Special thanks to our friend winterion at Japers' Rink for our icons!