The Ottawa Senators have been a pleasant surprise this season. Ottawa was expected to be in a season long fight for the eighth and final playoff spot in the NHL’s Eastern Conference but, thanks in large part to an outstanding stretch which saw the Sens win 14 of 16 games heading into the Olympic break, the Sens now find themselves fifth in the Eastern Conference with 70 points. With a spot in the postseason is all but assured for the Ottawa Senators, and a phenomenal chance at winning their division, fans in the nation’s capital should be rejoicing. Well, it is not all good news for Sens fans, who have seen their fare share of great regular season dashed early in the playoffs thanks in large part to faulty goaltending. Troubles between the pipes again this season have many in Ottawa thinking the past could be repeating itself again this season.
Pascal Leclaire was brought into the fold last season at the trade deadline with the hope he could solve Ottawa’s goaltending problems. The reviews were very good early in the season, and many were thinking this ‘goalie graveyard’ may have finally found a true number one starter. However, everything took a turn for the worse when Leclaire was struck in the face with an errant Mike Fisher shot while playing the role of bakc-up on November 22. The impact fractured Leclaire’s jaw, and resulted in him missing sixteen games of action.
Leclaire struggled mightily upon his return to the crease. Leclaire had a record of 8-5-1 with a 2.71 GAA and .901 save percentage before the injury, but holes started to emerge in his game. Leclaire only managed to stay healthy for the Senators next eleven games, but he began letting in very soft goals in each and every start. Subsequently, the team began losing more and more, and the finger was being pointed directly at the poor play of Leclaire. Unfortunately for Cory Clouston, Sens back-up Brian Elliot was playing worse, and the poor goaltending performance was affecting the morale on the bench. The team clearly lacked confidence in the goaltending, and the season appeared to be falling apart when the Sens lost five straight games to fall out of a playoff spot.
That is when things to another strange turn in Ottawa. Leclaire was once again hit in the head by an errant Mike Fisher shot in practice, which caused the struggling goaltender to miss nine straight games, and Brian Elliot was suffering from the flu. The Ottawa Senators were forced to turn to AHL goaltender Mike Brodeur right in the midst of their worst run of the season. Brodeur stepped in and provided the high level of goaltending Ottawa needed in order to turn their season around. Brodeur won his next two starts, stopping 32 shots in both games, before succumbing to the flu himself, and giving way to Brian Elliot.
Elliot took the ball and ran with it, winning nine games in a row. The Sens eleven game winning streak propelled the team to first in the Northeast division. Elliot was nothing short of sensational between the pipes, dropping his GAA from 2.93 to 2.43, and increasing his save percentage from .893 to .913. The soft goals had disappeared from Elliot’s game, and were replaced with timely saves to bail out his teammates when they needed the big stop.
Elliot was not the only reason for the turnaround. The win streak also coincided with the return of Alfredsson, Spezza, Michalek, and Kuba from injury, and Elliot’s improvement also came when a new goaltending consultant was brought into the mix. The Sens were rolling into the Olympic break, and the two week break would provide a nice opportunity for both Elliot and Leclaire to work with John Stevenson. Elliot’s positioning and technique had improved immensely, and it was expected that Leclaire would find his game again in short order.
While Elliot’s play has not dropped off completely, cracks have started to re-emerge in his game. Questionable goals were being surrendered, not at the same frequency as earlier in the season, but it left many fans in Ottawa wondering if Elliot could handle the load. The Senators are winless in three since the Olympic break, and Elliot did not finish his one and only start in those three games. Elliot did not play a terrible game in the 4-1 loss to the New York Rangers, but he was not able to make the big saves that could have bailed out his teammates.
Senators fan’s concerns regarding the play of Leclaire run far deeper then those of Elliot. Elliot’s performance against the Rangers provided Leclaire an opportunity to prove he can become the starting goaltender in Ottawa. It was Leclaire’s first start in almost two months, and it lasted all 6:38, with Leclaire being pulled after giving up two goals on six shots. Clouston’s post game comments regarding the team’s performance appeared to point the finger squarely at Leclaire, but he tempered those comments somewhat on Friday stating that he bases his decisions on what he thinks will give his team the best chance to win. Clouston felt Leclaire was having an off night, and did not want to give the Sens goalie a chance to battle back in the contest. With both goaltenders being pulled on consecutive starts following the trade deadline, many fans in Ottawa were beginning to fear goaltending would once again shatter their Stanley Cup dreams.
Goaltending has been a thorn in the side of the Senators for over a decade. Spectators in Ottawa have seen the likes of Damien Rhodes, Ron Tugnut, Tom Barrasso, Patrick Lalime, Jani Hurme, Martin Prusek, Dominek Hasek, Ray Emery, Martin Gerber, and Alex Auld patrol the crease at one time or another for the franchise. Emery proved to Sens fans that even when this team finds a goaltender capable of delivering on the ice, his problems off of it became too distracting for the team, eventually forcing Brian Murray to buy out his contract. Looking at this list it is not surprising that Sens fans are so concerned with their current goaltending tandem.
Leclaire did bounce back with a nice effort in a shootout loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs last on Saturday night, but people are still questioning if he can perform at a high level for sustained period of time. The Stanley Cup playoffs are a very long, tough two month grind, and teams rarely overcome shaky goaltending to win a best-of-seven series. Soft goals will kill an momentum in a playoff series, along with the team’s confidence. The Senators have the talent up-front and on the blueline to make some noise in the playoffs, but the eyes of Sens fans will be glued to their crease hoping one of Leclaire or Elliot can play at the level needed for this team to advance this spring.