Speculation: Are we still in a playoff spot on January 8th

[Tnuoc Alucard]

No guarantee but if the Sens win tomorrow, by points, they are back in the 2nd spot. The Senators are already in 2nd spot by points%.

What you mean to say is they have a better record (P%) than both the Habs and Pens, who (today) rank higher in the Standings (points).

Now if the the NHL ever decided to scrap their stupid Points system, and did what the NFL, NBA and MLB does, and rank their standing based on the teams records, during the season, the yes the Sens would be in a WS spot.

Unless the Sens do something significant to shore up their goaltending depth, then I don’t see how they could keep pace with the other 4 or 5 teams that are “in the hunt” for a WC Spot.

 

[vandelay]

Yeah these next two weeks will decide forsberg's career. Run with him til ullmark is back. He either gets his game back and we're in good shape, able to guve ull.ark needed rest til playoffs or he doesn't get it done and we're on the outside looking in with a great goalie than can only play 60% of the time.

 

[Do Make Say Think]

Safe bet that we won't be in the playoffs after tonight. We have no real NHL goaltending and I fear Ullmark will be gone for a while.

It is kind of awesome that we might be though. Usually we are talking about tanking in January.

 

[Tnuoc Alucard]

Penguins play the Blue Jackets tonight… one of those two will get 2 points, the loser may get a Loser point.

The Flyers could get 2 points vs the leafs tonight as well

The Wings could win in regulation and tie the Sens in points

There are a lot of horses in this race now…

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

No guarantee but if the Sens win tomorrow, by points, they are back in the 2nd spot. The Senators are already in 2nd spot by points%.

Now, if the Senators win and the Lightning lose, we are tied in points, but they have a game in hand.

If the Bruins lose, the Senators will be 3 points back with 4 games in hand for 3rd in the division.

Ideally the Flyers lose in regulation, while the PITT/COLUMBUS game just needs to end in regulation, period. I think maybe it's better if the Pens lose.

It's not as bad as it seems.

And then there are 40 games left .. We are in the thick of it to get in but a lot of teams are close and we are not healthy

 

[Beech]

I am way to lazy to look this up, so, If anyone knows off the top of his head, I would appreciate it.

What is the lowest point total ever achieved by a playoff team, since the 3 point game came in?

we could be looking at 82-84 points to get in this year.

 

[OD99]

Penguins play the Blue Jackets tonight… one of those two will get 2 points, the loser may get a Loser point.

The Flyers could get 2 points vs the leafs tonight as well

The Wings could win in regulation and tie the Sens in points

There are a lot of horses in this race now…

View attachment 957569

Yes, it is possible all the wrong teams win tonight.

 

[OD99]

And then there are 40 games left .. We are in the thick of it to get in but a lot of teams are close and we are not healthy

Absolutely. I am just throwing up an alternative reality to the sky is falling narrative of some on here.

We may not see a WC spot the rest of the season, but then again, we may find ourselves in 3rd place in a couple of weeks.

Leevi and Forsberg will be critical pieces, as will Stu. They need to be average and Stu needs to get unstuck and start driving some offence again.

Big time test, and the next 3 games hold some significance.

 

[ColinM]

Absolutely. I am just throwing up an alternative reality to the sky is falling narrative of some on here.

We may not see a WC spot the rest of the season, but then again, we may find ourselves in 3rd place in a couple of weeks.

Leevi and Forsberg will be critical pieces, as will Stu. They need to be average and Stu needs to get unstuck and start driving some offence again.

Big time test, and the next 3 games hold some significance.

Exactly it's all about the goaltending. It's also a chance for either Leevi or Forsberg to show that they deserve an NHL spot. In Forsberg's case if he doesn't have it now he likely doesn't get another chance.

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

4sburg starts vs the Wings. I would not go that way but if the team plays like they did the last 2 it wouldn't matter.
We really need him not to give up a weak goal though and he often does

 

[Micklebot]

4sburg starts vs the Wings. I would not go that way but if the team plays like they did the last 2 it wouldn't matter.
We really need him not to give up a weak goal though and he often does

I mean, it's giving him the opportunity to bounce back after a loss coming back from injury, I get it. We are best off if we can get all our goalies playing well...

But...

I am so done with seeing our goalies play terribly. What I'd give to just see competent goaltending as the norm here...

 

[PlayOn]

Probably hoping that Forsberg gets in a groove after multiple starts.

He doesn’t really inspire much confidence these days but maybe he’ll do better with a lot of starts. I feel like he didn’t play many games in a row last year or this year, maybe regular starts actually works better for him.

 

[BonHoonLayneCornell]

Forsberg starting makes me want to record the game and decide later if I want to watch it. No faith at all. Prove me wrong please.

 

[Senscore]

 

[DrEasy]

Q: Play the proven loser or the one who has the potential not to be one?

A: Play the loser.

 

[Xspyrit]

When is the last time that offense won us some games? Maybe Vancouver, maybe Anaheim but that's all for a long while. All the other wins were strong team defense and/or Ullmark being super solid. It's time for offense to contribute.

 

[Do Make Say Think]

It had to Forsberg, not going with him would have been a real blow to his confidence. He's the backup, has two shutouts and is healthy.

I'm not thrilled but it was never not going to be him.

 

[bicboi64]

Stu and Bath really need to get going. Those two and Tkachuk are the main play drivers on the roster and Tkachuk is the only one who's been pulling his weight and getting production out of his linemates during this skid.

Granted Stu was sick, but as soon as he's healthy, he needs to go off

 

[DrEasy]

It had to Forsberg, not going with him would have been a real blow to his confidence. He's the backup, has two shutouts and is healthy.

I'm not thrilled but it was never not going to be him.

I don't care about Forsberg's confidence. How much worse can he be anyway if he loses confidence?

 

[BonHoonLayneCornell]

I don't care about Forsberg's confidence. How much worse can he be anyway if he loses confidence?

Sadly, the season appears to rest on his shoulders.

 

[ottawagm]

4sburg starts vs the Wings. I would not go that way but if the team plays like they did the last 2 it wouldn't matter.
We really need him not to give up a weak goal though and he often does

Hope he spent some time working on covering his 5 hole.

 

[DrEasy]

Sadly, the season appears to rest on his shoulders.

Merilainen is our only hope.

 

[BonHoonLayneCornell]

Hope he spent some time working on covering his 5 hole.

All I can hope for is that he somehow regains the form we saw a couple years ago. If he brings more of what we've seen the last two years, they'll be out of the race by February.

Merilainen is our only hope.

I have some faith there, but we'll see. He's played admirably so far. But I'm not surprised they're handing the ball to Forsberg first.

 

[SensFactor]

Must win tonight IMO

 

[SlapJack]

No guarantee but if the Sens win tomorrow, by points, they are back in the 2nd spot. The Senators are already in 2nd spot by points%.

Now, if the Senators win and the Lightning lose, we are tied in points, but they have a game in hand.

If the Bruins lose, the Senators will be 3 points back with 4 games in hand for 3rd in the division.

Ideally the Flyers lose in regulation, while the PITT/COLUMBUS game just needs to end in regulation, period. I think maybe it's better if the Pens lose.

It's not as bad as it seems.

No no no, you're not doing it right. Sens lost 4 of of the last 5 so the sky is falling, every team we despise is passing us, and all hope is lost because they're not comfortably sitting in a playoff spot right now. Everything is bad, just stop watching and save yourself the grief.

Actually no you're right, it's not as bad as it seems. I don't care where Montreal or Detroit or Buffalo or Pittsburgh sit right now, I wouldn't have confidence in any of those teams making the playoffs. It's all super tight now with the recent Ottawa slump and winning streaks by the teams below, but there's an entire half of a season still to be played and the first half schedule for Ottawa was BRUTAL.

Yeah, goaltending will be stressful but this team has the ability to deal with it. Past years I wouldn't have said this, but this is a better structured team and if our #2 & 3 goalies can simply not suck, this storm will pass.

I might delete this if they lose to the Wings tonight though. That'll be rage inducing lol