The Ottawa Senators made a trade a few weeks ago to bring in Matt Duchene. This was a move that was supposed to propel the team into contender status.
However, since his arrival the team has gone 2-5-1. Although it’s not Duchene’s fault that this losing streak has took place, there are some serious problems with the Ottawa Senators. Let’s take a look at what needs to be fixed.
The Powerplay
First and foremost, the biggest problem the Ottawa Senators have is their powerplay. Prior to their game against the Islanders, the Sens had gone five straight games without a powerplay goal. A team that can put Karlsson, Duchene, Stone, Hoffman, and Brassard on the powerplay should not be this bad in this area. This is an area the Sens have always struggled in and it seems to be a coaching problem. Boucher is a good coach in many aspects, but when you have that level of talent on the powerplay and it isn’t working, there’s a good chance they aren’t being used correctly.
Goaltending
The second problem is another big one for the Sens, goaltending. So far this season Craig Anderson just hasn’t been good enough. It’s beyond the point where is stats aren’t accurate because of a small sample size, he just hasn’t been good. In 18 games played, he has a 0.895 save percentage. For comparison, he had a 0.926 last season and hasn’t dipped below 0.911 since coming to Ottawa. In the Sens system it’s important for Anderson to be at least a league average goalie. The Sens system results in a lot of low chance shots for the enemy team. These aren’t difficult shots to block and Anderson has struggled this season. This system requires Anderson to make a save every once in awhile, and he hasn’t delivered.
Roster Decisions
Another problem the Sens have had so far comes from Guy Boucher. His choices on who to play in the games and who is used in certain situations hasn’t been up to par. He puts too much trust in veterans such as Oduya, Burrows, and Pyatt. The result of this is lower ice time for players such as Hoffman and even causes some players like Chabot or Claesson to be out of the lineup. Boucher needs to focus on putting his best players on the ice as much as possible and if that means scratching Oduya, then so be it.
Next: Ottawa Senators: Team Performance Through A Quarter Of The Season
A Need To Fix These Problems To Recover
These are the three biggest problems with the Ottawa Senators in recent weeks. There are other issues such as Karlsson struggling defensively and Duchene not scoring until last game. However, those are problems that will likely sort themselves out on their own. In order to recover, the Sens need to take a good, hard look at the powerplay, goaltending, and roster choices.