We have reached the halfway point of the season, where are the Ottawa Senators at midway through the 2015-2016 campaign?

The Ottawa Senators have played forty-three games this season. The Senators have a 20-17-6 record and sit 10th in the Eastern Conference. The team is currently one point out of the 8th and final playoff spot. The NHL is right near the halfway mark of the eighty-two game regular season. This is a good time to ask and answer various important questions. What has Ottawa done well this season? What areas of the teams play have been effective and which areas need improvement?

Even Strength Play

The Senators are not a team that dominates games. The team is 27th in the NHL in terms of CorsiFor% at even strength with a percentage of 47.1%. The Senators are typically out-chanced in games. The Senators have been out chanced regarding shot attempts in twenty-nine of forty-three games this year. The team is 18th in the league in Goal Differential. It is evident that they could be playing better at even strength.

Goaltending

The saving grace of the Ottawa Senators has been strong goaltending. The team is 11th in the league in even strength save percentage with a 93.1% team save percentage. The number is impressive considering that the team gives up so many chances. The Senators goaltenders are forced to face many shots at Even Strength and have been able to deal with them fairly well. Craig Anderson and Andrew Hammond have been a productive goaltending tandem for the Senators.

Special Teams

The Senators have not been very effective in terms of special teams. The team is 19th in the league in Power Play Percentage with 18%. The power play numbers could be better but are much better than the team’s Penalty Killing numbers. The Senators are the 28th team in the league in terms of Penalty Killing percentage with 76.2%. The Penalty Killing numbers are scary considering that the Senators are seventh in the league in terms of times shorthanded. The Senators have been short handed 143 times thus far. The Senators take a ton of penalties and are not good at killing them off.

PENALTY KILL

The team’s woes on the Penalty Kill could be a result of losing Erik Condra and David Legwand. Condra was a very effective penalty killer and lead all forwards in penalty killing time last season. Legwand and Condra were key elements of a penalty killing unit that helped lead the Senators to finishing 11th in the league in Penalty Killing last season.

Power Play

Ottawa’s Power Play is trending slightly higher than it was last season. The Senators finished 22nd in Power Play percentage last season with a 16.8%. This season they are trending slightly higher, currently sitting 19th with an 18%. This could be due to improved utilization of players. Mike Hoffman has seen 1.68 TOI/Game on the Power Play last season shoot up to 2.36 TOI/Game this year. Injuries to Clarke MacArthur have seen him play only four games this season. This changes the look of the Power Play; MacArthur spent a ton of time on the Power Play last season.

The Ottawa Senators are a team sitting just outside of a playoff spot. The division is extremely tight right now. 4th in the Eastern Conference is just a ten point difference from 14th in the conference. The season is halfway in the books, and lots of hockey is left to play. The Senators should be able to make the playoffs if they can stay healthy and improve their weaknesses. The Senators must try to stay out of the penalty box, improve their special teams, and start to put more pressure on opposing teams. It would be a great service to their goaltenders if they could start putting more pucks toward the opposition net. The second half the season should be very interesting.