After yesterday's 5-4 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Ottawa Senators are now 3-2-0 on the season and have the second Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference. Through five game into the season, some might say the Senators are overachieving.
Jake Sanderson, Tim Stutzle and Brady Tkachuk are all tied for the most points on the roster with seven. At 22 years old, Sanderson is leading the Senators with six assists as a defenseman. Josh Norris, Drake Batherson and Stutzle each have three goals.
However, it hasn't been goaltending that has put the Senators over so far this season, it's been the offense, but the offense has made big strides in one particular area that is becoming tough to handle for opposing defenses.
Senators' powerplay has been simply fantastic this season and must continue to have consistency
The biggest reason the Senators are having early season success is their ability to score on the powerplay. It's already been a huge improvement after being ranked 25th last season according to Stat Muse.
So far this season, the Senators are 8-of-21 (38 percent) on the powerplay. Eight of the Senators' 18 goals this season have come on the powerplay, that's good for 44 percent of the Senators' goals.
In four of the five games this season, the Senators have scored at least one powerplay goal. The powerplay took off in two of the past three games. In the Senators' 8-7 win against the Los Angeles Kings on last Monday, the Senators went 4-of-6 (67 percent) on the powerplay. Yesterday against the Lightning, the Senators went 2-of-5 (40 percent) on the powerplay.
Tkachuk has scored a powerplay goal in back-to-back games and Batherson has scored a powerplay goal in two of the last three games. Six different players have scored a powerplay goal this season.
Power play is firing on all cylinders 🔥#GoSensGo pic.twitter.com/2tsbUglmlz
— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) October 19, 2024
Getting consistency from the top forwards on the powerplay will help any team win, and the Senators have had their powerplay help them. Yesterday marked the first time since the 2008-09 season and the sixth time in franchise history that the Senators scored a powerplay goal in each of their first 4+ games at home.
Having a better powerplay was one thing the Senators desperately needed to fix this season under new head coach Travis Green. So far the Senators have, but need to keep it at a cosistent level. The Senators have talented offensive players who have the ability to score each time their on the powerplay, and need to carry it over on their three-game West Coast road trip starting on Tuesday night against the Utah Hockey Club.