With 56 games left to play, it felt like the season was starting to slip away.
Four straight losses, each a little bit more frustrating than the last. Four games under .500. Last place in the Atlantic Division. Last place in the Eastern Conference. The other night against Vegas, I almost opened that STUPID draft lottery simulator. Something had to give.
In the end, it was DJ Smith that paid the price for the early season struggles. Just a couple weeks after talking about the need for stability and emphasizing his belief in the current Head Coach, Steve Staios pulled the trigger.
DJ Smith is out. Jacques Martin is in.
The Ottawa Senators continue their five-game road trip with a stop in Arizona to take on the Coyotes.
For the Senators, they begin life with Jacques Martin behind the bench. Well it’s the beginning for this group of Senators, anyway. Martin spent nine seasons with the Senators, posting a 341-255-96 (.562) regular-season record. He remains as the team’s all-time leader in games coached (692), regular-season wins (341), playoff wins (31) and playoff games coached (69).
The now 71-year old Martin is hoping that he can turn back the clock a little bit and bring some of that stability he instilled as the team’s Head Coach in the 1996-1997 season. The game has changed a lot since then but the message from Martin is likely to focus on the same key elements.
Defence-first. Structure. Attention to detail. And hopefully, accountability.
He’ll have some work to do with this current group. While there have been flashes along the way, consistency has eluded the Senators through the first few months of the season and ultimately, that falls on the players. Jacques can put together a flawless game plan but it won’t matter if this team’s core players aren’t buying in. Their play ultimately cost DJ Smith and Davis Payne their jobs and now we’ll see how they respond.
No word on a lineup just yet but we’ll assume same look for now. Will be interesting to see if Martin’s debut includes any changes to the lineup. Vladimir Tarasenko, Mathieu Joseph and Rourke Chartier were all out the other night against Vegas and it’s not clear if any of those three are available for this one.
Tkachuk-Stützle-Batherson
Kubalik-Norris-Giroux
Kelly-Greig-MacEwen
Smejkal-Kastelic-Crookshank
Sanderson-Zub
Chychrun-Hamonic
Brannstrom-Bernard-Docker
Still TBD on a starter too.
Puck drop is scheduled for 9:00 PM in that weird rink in Arizona. With the late start, pregame naps are a must. TSN5 has the broadcast, TSN1200 has the radio feed and dear old friend Bort is serving up streamin’ hot links a little closer to game time.
And now, a closer look at how Jacques Martin’s Senators match up against uh Gretzky’s Coyotes via the HEAD2HEAD table.
| HEAD2HEAD |  |
 |
|---|---|---|
| Record | 11-15-0 (22 pts) | 15-13-2 (32 pts) |
| Goals For | 3.35 (10th) | 3.03 (18th) |
| Goals Against | 3.42 (26th) | 2.87 (11th) |
| Power Play | 17.8% (22nd) | 23.1% (11th) |
| Penalty Kill | 72.4% (30th) | 80.2% (15th) |
| Shots For | 32.7 (8th) | 26.7 (31st) |
| Shots Against | 29.9 (14th) | 31.7 (23rd) |
| Leading Scorers | Stutzle-29 pts Giroux-25 pts Batherson-23 pts Chychrun- 21 pts Tkachuk-21 pts |
Keller-26 pts Maccelli-22 pts Schmaltz-20 pts Bjugstad-19 pts Crouse-19 pts |
| Starting Goalie | Joonas Korpisalo 6-9-0 3.50 GAA, .892 sv% |
Connor Ingram 12-6-0 2.41 GAA, .923 sv% |
