For the first time during the Ottawa Senators' current losing streak, they were able to grab a point in the NHL standings with their OT loss to the NJ Devils last night. Ottawa still remains eight points out of the final wildcard spot and they can't afford to fall any further behind. It's too bad the Sens' didn't take advantage of the fact that they didn't have any back to back games in the early part of their schedule. After tomorrow's road game in Philadelphia, they will have a mini three game homestand meaning 11 of their 17 games were at home yet they find themselves pretty much where they were last year at this point in the season. Both Sens GM Pierre Dorion and DJ Smith said it was critical to have a good start to the season yet here we find the team not getting results, only moral victories when you listen to DJ Smith. The losing can't continue leading up to the Sens' road trip out to California in just over a week from now.

There's plenty of blame to go around when it comes to the Sens' woes this season. First and foremost, Dorion has yet to address the need for a top four defenseman over the last two off-seasons, so it's no wonder he went on record last week saying he's loyal to DJ Smith. Even though he improved the top six forward group, you need to build from the net out and the bandaid solutions over the last two seasons on the blue line have been inept to say the least. After talking to a former NHL head coach today at length, he feels that this staff has shown they don't have what it takes to put the players in a position to succeed by using their strengths over the last three plus seasons. He mentioned the lack of systems and regression of key players on defense, while showing a double standard to certain players is very concerning. This former coach went on to say that the need to wipe out the current coaching staff should happen before Dorion acquires anyone on the blueline to see if someone with proper NHL experience can elevate this group.

Last night, on far too many occasions, players are being deployed incorrectly and it's flat-out affecting the team's ability to get results. Thomas Chabot played 32 minutes last night and he didn't even play the PP in overtime, which this former coach I spoke to said, the taxing minutes he plays leads to mental mistakes as your game falls apart quickly but this coaching staff said last year to end the season that they wouldn't overuse him this season but nothing has changed yet again. How many more times do we need to see the Sens' fourth line out against the opposition's first line or players put into situations that they aren't capable of executing due to their skill set?! The constant stunned look of Jack Capuano and DJ Smith when they look at each other after another defensive zone mistake due to a lack of structure has gone on too long.

Last night, Ottawa got caught running around in their defensive zone far too much, while struggling to sustain any offensive zone pressure on the forecheck, outside of when they were on the PP. I have stated it in this spot on numerous occasions, the puck isn't moving north enough with this group and it begs one to wonder why this hasn't been addressed through the first thirteen games of the season. You aren't going to win many games in this league giving up over 40 SOG while surrendering far too many high danger chances from within 15 feet of the net.

If the losing continues, this coaching staff will have a very short shelf life as the players aren't being deployed properly.

Let's see how they respond tomorrow at 1pm in Philly.

Thoughts/comments Sens' fans?!
Thanks for reading.

Kevin

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