Ups and downs is a feature that looks at the individual performances of the Ottawa Senators during the past week.
It was a week that told the story of the Senators season. An ugly loss to the Flyers, a big win agains the Bruins, and an ugly loss to the Blue Jackets.
The feeling after the Columbus game especially was not a happy one, and it made it tough to remember that the Sens were winners of 4 of their last 6 games. Has been hard to figure out just what is plaguing the Sens this season, but there weren't many great performances this week.
Biggest Gains: Chris Neil: I've been on record in the past as someone who isn't a Chris Neil fan. Though he has had a tough start to the year, Neil has been coming on in the last couple weeks. In the team's only win this week it was Chris Neil, with a big hit (and a much, much bigger goal), who turned the tide against the Bruins. Slim pickings this week.
Biggest Losses: Craig Anderson: Tough week for Andy, which will do nothing to help the "goalie controversy" that Paul Maclean tried hard to suppress. 3 games, GAA of 3.11, SV% of 0.899. Those just aren't the numbers we are used to from Anderson. He wasn't the reason the Sens lost in either of the games, but he could stand to be a lot better.
| Goaltenders | Trend | Notes |
| Craig Anderson |  | See "Biggest Losses" |
| Robin Lehner |  | Three starts, three wins, then no starts this week. Think we'll be seeing him Tuesday. |
| Defensemen | ||
| Mark Borowiecki | | May be getting a call from the league for his hit on Jared Boll, but has continued to provide a physical presence on the blue line, but he can't offer much else. |
| Joe Corvo | | Corvo didn't play this week, but with Chris Phillips playing regularly on the Senators struggling PP, we might need to see him soon. |
| Jared Cowen |  | Moved away from Karlsson, Cowen scored the game winner against the Bruins. Is he playing well? Let's just say the bar hasn't been set very high. |
| Eric Gryba | | A plus 1 and 6 hits in two games this week. When you aren't noticing him, that's when you know he's doing well. |
| Erik Karlsson | | A beautiful assist against the Bruins on Jason Spezza's tying goal and the only goal against the Jackets. Par for the Erik Karlsson course. |
| Marc Methot | | Biggest shot he took all week was the one he took at Adnan. |
| Chris Phillips | | Didn't play against the Flyers. Part of the problem on the power play, part of the problem on the penalty kill against the Blue Jackets. |
| Patrick Wiercioch | | Still not playing. Got a chance against the Flyers and finished a -1, and didn't see the ice for the rest of the week. This team needs preseason Patty. |
| Forwards | ||
| Cory Conacher | | Really liked Conacher's week. Got a chance to move up and play with Jason Spezza, and that line was the best against the Bruins. Looked good on second PP unit with Zibanejad. |
| Erik Condra | | Returned, got Kassian out, and then the penalty kill got lit up, and he was a -1. |
| Derek Grant | | Really solid as a 4th line centre. When Kassian isn't out there, Grant's line can actually generate zone time. |
| Colin Greening | | 15 hits in three games, and should have had an assist on Neils big goal. But when will we get some Greening goals? |
| Matt Kassian | | Finally scratched on Sunday, barely saw the ice against the big bad Bruins. |
| Clarke MacArthur | | Was the Sens best player in an ugly game against the Flyers, but like the rest of his line was hard to spot the rest of the week. |
| Milan Michalek | | Better week from Milan, but that's not saying much. Looks good on the second PP unit with Zibanejad and Conacher. |
| Chris Neil | | See "Biggest Gains" |
| Bobby Ryan | | Bobby is very good, but this week we didn't see much. He had a beauty goal against the Bruins though. |
| Z. Smith | | Took a bit of a step back this week, the speed we saw in the last couple of weeks wasn't on display as much. |
| Jason Spezza | | Very, very close to being biggest gains. Jason Spezza stepped up in a big way against the Bruins. He was on the ice all night, and had two big points. |
| Kyle Turris | | With many players on this list benefit from setting a low bar, Turris suffers from setting a high bar. Our top centre did nothing this week. |
| Mika Zibanejad | | Mika is plugging away. Has himself stuck on the 4th forward line, but is getting power play time on the second unit, and looks good in his limited opportunities. |
Special thanks to our friend winterion at Japer's Rink for our icons!