Can The Senators Keep A Wild Card Spot

The Ottawa Senators (5-1-1) and are in a playoff spot for the first time since going to the Eastern conference Final in 2017.

The Senators haven’t been the best team in the NHL primarily due to a combination of factors such as, inconsistent defensive play, poor goaltending, struggles on special teams, and a lack of overall discipline.

Despite having star players such as Brady Tkachuk, Claude Giroux, Drake Batherson, they still haven’t gotten over that rope of becoming a dominant team. Being the end of lower cap space and farming prospects just for them to be traded hasn’t helped the team either.

Even with a brutal (6-0) shutout loss from the New York Rangers they still have a spot in the wild card with teams like The Boston Bruins, Montreal Canadiens, and The Rangers just being 2 points out of being in a spot as well.

The Senators despite their downs have made improvements since their first 20 games in the season through a lot of factors, one of the most notable is Ullmark.

Ottawa’s power play now ranks 12th in the league (22.8) percent this season compared to finishing 24rd last season (18.0) percent. The improvements can be shown by the offensive zone time percentage (59.4) percent.

With Jakob Chhycrun being traded to the Washington Capitals this offseason, Thomas Chabot staying healthy this season has made an impact. After missing time due to injuries two seasons prior, he has played a total of 31 games so far and is ranked top 50 in defensemen.

If the Senators’ skate group stays healthy and continue to control possession in front of Ullmark, who has shown he is more than capable of making saves, Ottawa can rise up and become a competitive playoff team in the east.

Jack Danetz is a third-year majoring in media studies. To contact his email, jzd5987@psu,edu