Faceoff Factor

The Northeast Division’s Tale of Two Cities

Mike Wilson | National Hockey League

Mar 4, 08:39 AM | Hype this story!

Two months ago, the Ottawa Senators and the Boston Bruins were in very different situations from where they are now. Ottawa was sitting atop the Eastern Conference without much competition; Boston was fighting to keep their head above water and the dividing line for the playoffs.

Now the two teams have met each other in the middle of the standings. The Senators have dropped 15 of their 27 games in January and February, obtaining only 24 points over that span. That total isn’t necessarily bad, but it won’t help them hold the lead in the Eastern Conference. Why did Ottawa lose grip in the east?

The thing that stands out the most is that they have developed into a streaky team. This frustrates one of the most important assets in hockey: the fans. When a team gets streaky to the point where they win 2-4 straight games then drop 2-4 straight games, the fans begin to grow angry.

This also gets at the coaching staff. If one thing works one night, then fails the next, is it bad line chemistry, unsteady player production, or just a good opponent on a bad night? This led to last year’s coach and current general manager, Bryan Murray, to replace John Paddock as head coach.

Another aspect, at least in Ottawa’s case, is injury. Daniel Alfredsson, Randy Robitaille, Jason Spezza, Joe Corvo, Dany Heatley, Chris Neal and Dean McAmmond all went down with injuries at various times throughout this rocky course in Ottawa’s schedule. This scrambles lines and doesn’t allow for line chemistry to develop.

Trading Corvo and Eaves to Carolina and installing Stillman and Commodore didn’t aid this process of line adjustment.

Changes didn’t only come in the lines, but also in the goaltending. Ray Emery and Martin Gerber have been just as streaky as the team as a whole. Neither goalie has stood out as the clear starting netminder for the team during this stretch. Emery’s goals against average has reached 3.05 and Gerber’s, currently at 2.72, is continuously climbing.

South of the border, in Boston, things are exactly the opposite.

The Bruins have won 16 of their last 26, picking up 34 points. As one can imagine, the reasons for Boston’s success have been the exact opposite to Ottawa’s slipping.

The only streaks the Bruins are going on are winning streaks. They haven’t lost more than two consecutive games in two months; and even that has only happened twice. While, on the other hand, they have winning streaks of six games and three games; this doesn’t include overtime losses which Boston suffered in between wins.

In fact, their loss to Washington last night brought an end to that six-game winning streak and an eight-game point streak.

The Bruins weren’t as plagued with injury as the Senators have been. This gives them more solid lines and time to adapt to their line mates and makes the job easy for the coaching staff. Tim Thomas has been strong between the pipes with a .922 save percentage and 2.49 goals against average.

Also, the Bruins didn’t make any trades which kept all of their lines unchanged and their locker room familiar.

The Senators have dropped to fifth in the conference while the Bruins have climbed to sixth. Only four points separate the two teams (Boston with 76 points and Ottawa with 80 points).

While these two cities lead two completely different games right now, another Northeast Division team has snuck in the door when no one was looking.

The Montreal Canadiens have been hanging around the fourth and fifth spots for a while, waiting for their chance to take the lead from the Senators in the Northeast Division. That chance came when Ottawa began this downward slope. Montreal was finally able to pass the Senators last week and put them atop the Eastern Conference for a few days with 81 points.

However, no lead can be secured in the National Hockey League this close to the playoffs. All three teams lost their games last night; the Bruins 10-2 to the Capitals, the Senators 3-1 to the Ducks, and the Canadiens 6-4 to the Sharks. Boston is the only of the three who plays again tonight as they host the Florida Panthers.

As mentioned here at Faceoff Factor, with all three teams losing, this gives the Pittsburgh Penguins a lot of help. The Penguins now move into the top spot because they have played the same number of games as the Canadiens, have the same number of points (81); but it is Pittsburgh who has the tie breaker over Montreal with more wins.

Pittsburgh plays tonight at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa Bay and can separate from pack to stay on top of the Eastern Conference.

But, again, no lead can be secured this late in the season.