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Ottawa Senators: Top 3 burning questions for 2019 season

By Joshua Delorme

OTTAWA, ON - OCTOBER 07: General view of the Canadian Tire Centre before the NHL game between the Ottawa Senators and the Detroit Red Wings on Oct. 7, 2017 at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Steven Kingsman/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
OTTAWA, ON - OCTOBER 07: General view of the Canadian Tire Centre before the NHL game between the Ottawa Senators and the Detroit Red Wings on Oct. 7, 2017 at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Steven Kingsman/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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Question #2: Dear God, will somebody please fix this team’s Penalty Kill?

I don’t know how much detail I need to go into for this question. Each and every fan of this team knows how terrible the Ottawa Senators have been the past few seasons on the Penalty Kill. There is a saying in hockey that you simply can’t teach skill, which might very well be true but if there is one thing coaches can teach in hockey is how to play defence. Defence is a teachable aspect of hockey, no matter what level of play the player performs at.

With that, the team not having the talent to play defence is simply an idiotic stance to take. The Senators finished 23rd in the League on the Penalty Kill last season and were even worse at 26th the season prior. If the team ever has a chance of being competitive in the relatively close future they need to be able to keep the puck out of their net when they are killing penalties.

Ottawa Senators
GLENDALE, AZ – JANUARY 07: Head coach Jack Capuano of the New York Islanders looks on from the bench during the first period against the Arizona Coyotes at Gila River Arena on January 7, 2017 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Norm Hall/NHLI via Getty Images) /

With the new coaching staff in place, it will be Jack Capuano’s responsibility to run the defence and the Penalty Kill. Capuano spent the last two seasons has the associate coach with the Florida Panthers, where he was in charge of the defense and the Penalty Kill units. The Panthers’ Penalty Kill ranked 10th in the League last season. This was a team that couldn’t buy saves at many times during the season, but they managed to be a pretty good Penalty Kill unit.

Related Story. Senators hire Jack Capuano. light

That makes me think that Capuano was able to put together a system that was simple for the Penalty Kill units to play with, while maybe taking a little pressure off the goaltender by not allowing many second and third opportunities with rebounds.

If this new coaching staff is able to get this team to play a simple, but efficient way of playing in the defensive zone all while taking some pressure off from the goaltenders which in turn should help reduce the goals against.

Sens fans, do you think the special teams will be improved going into this season? Do you have hopes that Capuano, Smith and the rest of the staff will be able to run a decent Penalty Kill unit? Let us know in the comment section below!

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