12th in league in Pts %
6th in East
http://www.nhl.com/ice/teamstats.htm?fetchKey=20152ALLSAAAll&sort=pointPctg&viewName=summary
More stats :
14th in Goals per Game
13th in Goals Against per Game
14th in 5-5 F/A
18th in PP%
13th in PK%
20th in Shots per Game
29th in Shots Against per Game
I'm not sure what people expect from the most inexperienced team in the NHL with the lowest payroll.
Our PDO is being propped up by our goalies right now - our shooting percentage is about league average, so there's not much regression (if any) to be expected in that regard.
We go as our goalies go. No surprises there.
Pretty much all good teams do in general (MTL with Price, Tampa with Bishop, NYR with Lundqvist, Boston with Rask, Detroit with Howard). Pittsburgh could be the exception to the rule in the East but Fleury ain't that bad in regular season, he's rocking a 0.930 SV % right now. So yeah, solid goaltending is needed in the NHL to win consistently
I think it's just because Sens fans are not used to have consistent solid goaltending yet
However with a young inexperienced team, Sens goalies can't afford to go on cold stretches (like last year) and the offense isn't heavy power enough to compensate (like Tampa or Pittsburgh)
Just checked cap geek. "Space today" was 17m. I don't know how I feel about that, no long term commitments or albatross contracts provide organisational agility, (aye the rub) which only matter if management has strong leadership. A situation which is in flux right now and should be treated sceptically based on precedence.
Facts :
- lowest salary payroll
- lowest NHL games experience
IS there still some people wondering if the Sens are in the midst of a rebuild or no? IMO, it should be clear as water. Players like Phillips, Neil, Legwand and even Michalek now; were hired as veteran stop gaps. Even if not in their primes anymore, Sens brass think they are strong presences with great work ethic to have in the locker room and can still contribute on the ice. Do people think the Sens went all in with those contracts to win the Cup?
When you realize those facts, it's hard to not find ridiculous the hate going out for those guys...
You know what team we look like right now? Last season's Maple Leafs. The Sens are likely to impode in the same way if we can't break the puck out of our end and start getting consistent pressure on the opposition. Our goalies are very unlikely to keep this up for a full season.
Not even close. Scoring chances and puck possession is not comparable. Sens control the play for long stretches or even periods during a game. Of course, many fans here would like to see the Sens dominate for 3 periods but ask me if I think they are realistic? ok thanks. They give up 5 more shots but in terms of scoring chances it's close... Unless people think that those 5 shots more are golden scoring chances
No, they look more like the Sens of 2012-13, without Spezza, but with Karlsson and Cowen and a few new promising players (Ceci, Stone, Hoffman, Lazar). It's funny because people were saying the exact same things back then but when you look at advanced stats, it doesn't tell the same story. Of course, there's a lot of room for improvement but comparable to the Leafs who were outclassed in almost every game is not accurate. People put way too much stock in shots against. But anyway, it will take time for this to start being recognized like it did for other things in the past.
If we take last game where the Sens were heavily outshot and even outplayed most of the game :
http://senstats.com/nov-20-2014-nsh-ott-game-stats/#more-405
This site report that scoring chances were 23-14 even though the shots were 35-9...
Now if you take the game against the Canucks... the Shots were 37-24 for Vancouver, but according to the same site, scoring chances were 15-14 for Vancouver... Do people start to see where I'm getting at?
Sens still have a lot to learn so it shouldn't be an outrage if they are outshot or even outchanced by veteran/contending teams with a high payroll. Missing a player like Methot is huge for the Sens, who don't have a ton of proven depth (and low payroll). Just accept reality and enjoy, it's a development season and it should be really fun.