The 2019/2020 season has been full of ups and downs for the Ottawa Senators. Which is somehow still better than most expected coming into the year.
After a stretch where they won seven of nine games, the Sens have come crashing back down to Earth lately. They’ve dropped four straight, scoring just four goals over that stretch. Outscored 13-4 along the way.
It’s not going to get any easier for the Senators as they’ll play their next three games on the road, including a back to back in Vancouver and Edmonton on Tuesday and Wednesday night.
Ottawa briefly made an appearance in the Eastern Conference playoff race but this four game slide has the Senators back near the bottom of the league standings.
Heading into tonight’s action, they sit 29th overall, just a single point clear of the 30th place Devils. New Jersey has a couple games in hand too.
The way the Red Wings are playing right now, 30th might be rock bottom for the Senators.
As we get set for the week ahead, another version of Monday News and Notes.
-While the big team has struggled a bit lately, things are trending upward for the Belleville Senators. They beat Binghamton and Hershey over the weekend and have now won five straight and seven straight on the road. After a sluggish start, the BSens have crawled back into a playoff spot in the AHL’s North Division. In a season where the NHL team is destined to miss the playoffs, it would be a huge boost for the organization to find their way into the post-season at the AHL level. That experience will make a huge difference down the line.
-What’s most encouraging about this recent run for the BSens is the players that are getting it done. It’s not a bunch of AHL vets leading the way but rather key pieces of the organization’s future. Drake Batherson is now tied for the AHL lead in scoring. Both Josh Norris and Alex Formenton are humming along at close to a point a game pace for the last month. And more experienced but still young AHL guys like Vitaly Abramov and Rudolfs Balcers are contributing too. It’s going to be interesting to see how much longer the Sens can keep those guys down there because all five have played well enough to earn a call-up through the month of November.
-The AHL guys aren’t the only prospects playing well lately. Jacob Bernard-Docker and Shane Pinto are both hitting their stride at the University of North Dakota. Bernard-Docker has an impressive 13 points in 14 games while Pinto, a 2nd round pick in 2019, has 11 points in 15 games. Pretty strong start for a player in his first year at the NCAA level. In the case of Bernard-Docker, he is considered to be a lock when Team Canada names their selection camp roster today at 1:00 PM. Jonny Tychonik and Maxence Guenette could both get a call too. Lassi Thomson was included on Finland’s list earlier today.
-Jean Gabriel Pageau will be sad to see the month of November go. With his goal on Saturday in Calgary, Pageau finished the month with a ridiculous 11 goals in 16 games. He became the first Senatorsto score that many goals in a month since Daniel Alfredsson scored 13 back in 2005. He’s obviously not going to be able to sustain that 30.6% shooting percentage the rest of the way but it’s a pretty good indication of what Pageau can do in a more offensive role. Still no word on a contract extension for Pageau but rumour has it Pierre Dorion has at least had an initial conversation with his agent. How the Senators handle this situation is going to be one the most intriguing story-lines to follow this season.
-Will be interesting to see what happens next with Logan Brown. He made a glaring mistake in the game against the Wild, spent the majority of the rest of the night on the bench and then was a healthy scratch in Calgary on Saturday. Brown has played well in his most recent call-up but it was pretty clear that DJ Smith was sending him a strong message not to get too comfortable. Would expect that he’s back in the line up tomorrow night but we’ll find out for sure when the team practices in Vancouver later this afternoon. It’s okay to occasionally sit a young guy down, similar to what they did with Erik Brannstrom, but you certainly don’t want to make a habit of it.
-After briefly being distracted by a Wild Card chase for all of two weeks, focus has now shifted back to the possibility of landing a high pick at the Draft in June. Alexis Lafrenière continues to be the consensus number one and it’s easy to see why. He has 15 points in his last 8 games and now has 59 points in 28 games this season. He basically does whatever he wants out there. 13.5% chance, folks.
