To think about: the Sens' forward lines & WOWYs

During last night's win, a lot of freaking out was going on over the fact that MacLean's lines looked a little bit wonky. Hoffman-Turris-Ryan stayed relatively intact throughout the game, but Spezza was handed MacArthur and Condra, Michalek was cobbled to a third line with Zibanejad and Conacher and Greening-Smith-Neil became our fourth line. Travis Yost suggested that instead of trying to find Spezza some chemistry, MacLean is instead trying to insulate him by arming him with possession-drivers who can get out of the defensive zone and into the offensive zone.

Read more »

Let's worry about the first line.

Take a quick look at a few basic numbers regarding the Senators' first line. Calculating every game played since the beginning of the season, Jason Spezza's average Corsi For is 44.95%. This suggests he hasn't been generating as many shots as a top-line forward should be, or that his backchecking skills leave something to be desired, or a combination of both. Furthermore, he's been part of no fewer than three line combinations that are over 5% frequency, which suggests that "chemistry" is an idea that Paul MacLean has yet to fully realize with Spezza. His go-to winger, Milan Michalek, has an average Corsi For of 45.6%, and a closer look at his game-by-game numbers shows him to be even more inconsistent than Spezza.

Read more »