I think that’s a fair assessment and after watching this team play without Artem Zub on Saturday, it’s clear they need a blueliner. In the preseason, Smith suggested that his blue line was “adequate” during a radio interview with TSN 1200. Those are games when Makar plays fewer than 24 minutes. Now if we look at the 20 games in which Makar logs the least amount of ice time, Colorado’s record jumps to 18-2-0. (Those are the games in which he plays about 28 minutes per game or more). If we look at the 20 games in which Cale Makar has logged the most ice time for Colorado over the past year, the Avs record is a rather ordinary 10-8-2. It’s worth pointing out this isn’t a situation unique to Ottawa by any means. As we look at the past calendar year, let’s examine Ottawa’s record based on Chabot’s usage: In Saturday’s game against Florida, Chabot played a season-high 29:16. This is an annual source of debate in this market, but the fact that we’re having this conversation in October is telling. We’ve already reached that point where Thomas Chabot’s ice time has become a talking point for many Ottawa fans. Defencemen’s ice time under the microscope And they’re certainly not as bad as the team that was dummied for long stretches against the Panthers and Wild. They’re probably not as good as the team that ripped off four straight wins on home ice this month. But these games against Florida and Minnesota have served as a good reality check to remind us about the pre-season expectations for this team. So this team has absolutely shown signs of tangible growth and progress. Last season, Ottawa ranked 24th in the NHL with a paltry 47.12 SCF percentage. They’ve also out-chanced opponents 200-171, a 53.71 SCF percentage that’s good enough for seventh in the league. According to Natural Stat Trick, they’re essentially a middle-of-the-pack team with a 50.42 CF percentage which ranks 16th in the NHL.Īnd Ottawa has outscored their opponents 20-15 at five-on-five this season, with their 57.14 GF percentage ranking eighth in the league. In the grand scheme, however, Ottawa has been a better puck-possession team this season. It was the first time ever the Senators gave up that many shots in a regular-season game, which is startling when you consider some of the lopsided games that Ottawa was involved with in the early years of the franchise.īut since the Senators entered the NHL 30 years ago, there have only been five other occasions where an NHL team surrendered 58 shots in regulation time of a regular-season game. I want to provide some context here, because allowing 58 shots in regulation time is a rare phenomenon. How often do teams give up 58 shots in regulation in an NHL game?
NOTION THE RARE OCCASIONS SERIES
And it’s certainly led to a series of questions about their ability to defend in their own zone. It was a stark reminder that Ottawa’s already slim playoff chances are drastically reduced without Artem Zub and Josh Norris in the lineup.
The stakes were obviously higher back then, as the Senators staved off elimination by winning that game against the Penguins.īut Saturday’s 58-shot barrage against the Senators felt significant in its own way.
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