Three games into the 2018-19 campaign, the Ottawa Senators shockingly remain in playoff contention. While this statement is written firmly with tongue-in-cheek, the team’s predicted demise is certainly on hold for the time-being.
The Senators aren’t going to fool anyone into believing they’re an upper echelon contender. However, opening with a 1-1-1 record out of the gate, including a 5-3 win in front of a National television audience Saturday over their arch-rival, gives fans and players reason for optimism.
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Accentuating the positives –
It all starts in the crease for the Senators. Mike Condon admittedly had a tough day Monday, surrendering five goals on 29 shots, but if Craig Anderson’s first two appearances hold meaning, the 37-year-old may be able to right the ship after a dismal 2017-18 season. Anderson’s .899 save percentage a year ago was the worst of his career. Making stops at a .913 clip over his first two starts, Anderson is a fraction off his .914 career average.
Compiling five points (two goals, three assists) in three games, defenseman Thomas Chabot doesn’t appear to be feeling any pressure to replace Erik Karlsson’s offence from the back end. The 21-year old’s two-goal performance versus the Maple Leafs, which included one for the highlight reels, attests to this.
The surprise of training camp, rookie Maxime Lajoie, picked up a goal and an assist in first NHL game against the Blackhawks. The rookie blue-liner with only 56 pro games under his belt with American League Belleville last season, beat out Ben Harpur, Christian Jaros and Christian Wolanin for a top-six spot on the Senators d-corps. So far, he continues to earn the opportunity.
Former Sharks Mikkel Boedker, Dylan DeMelo and Chris Tierney are also leaving their marks. Boedker is being utilized throughout the lineup, and contributed an assist on Chabot’s first marker Saturday.
If Lajoie was the surprise of camp, DeMelo is an early regular season surprise. Already with three points, including notching his first goal in 87 games, the London, ON native leads the NHL with a plus-seven rating.
The speedy Tierney has earned points in all three Senators’ games.
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Finally. Zack Smith was put on waivers two weeks ago, lighting a fire under the veteran center. Smith scored the club’s first goal of the season and has since added three assists.
But there’s still a long ways to go in proving the Senators will be able to perform with consistency.
Areas of improvement --
It is extremely early, but Guy Boucher’s new-look power play is still a work in progress. The unit has manufactured only one goal in seven opportunities, garnering a paltry eight shots - the lone marker coming from Colin White just nine seconds into their first PP of the season.
Through three games, the Senators proved vulnerable to allowing opposing team’s stars to shine. The line of Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-David Pastrnak shredded the club for a combined 11 points Monday in the Bruins 6-3 victory. Toronto’s Mitch Marner and Auston Matthews each notched a goal and an assist Saturday, while Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews of the Blackhawks did the same in Thursday’s lid-lifter.
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With shutdown specialist Jean-Gabriel Pageau rehabbing from Achilles surgery, out of the lineup for months, and All Star d-man Erik Karlsson, well, not in the lineup or a member of the team at all, the Senators will be hard-pressed to stop players of this ilk.
Outshot 110-80, the Senators need to cut down shots against if they want to have any chance of staying above water all season. The ice has been tilted at times in all three games. The team holds a minus-57 even-strength Corsi.
The good news is, at least in the early-going, the positives out-weigh the negatives for the Senators.