Surging Sens one of season's best stories

The renaissance of the 2011-12 Ottawa Senators has been one of the best and most surprising stories of the season's first half.

Picked by most NHL experts to finish the year out of the postseason for a second consecutive year and third in the last four, the team didn't do much to change people's opinions early in the campaign. With new head coach Paul MacLean at the helm, Ottawa got off to a horrific start out of the gates.

Winners of just one of the first six games -- and that being via a shootout -- the Senators appeared to be on the fast track to receiving a heavily-weighted lottery pick for the 2012 NHL Entry Draft.

It wasn't just the fact they were 1-5-0, it was the way they were losing the games. Ottawa's team defense was nonexistent, and they were outscored badly as a result. The Sens scored 15 goals in the opening six contests, but they allowed their opponents a whopping total of 30. Included in the stretch were four different games in which the club yielded five or more goals, and twice they gave up seven.

But something strange happened following a 7-2 drubbing at the hands of the Philadelphia Flyers on October 18th. The Senators began to win, and pretty regularly.

Starting with a 4-1 victory over the Winnipeg Jets two nights later, Ottawa closed out October with six straight wins to finish the season's first month with a 7-5-0 mark. During the span of the six-game winning streak, the Sens netted 23 goals and allowed just 15.

Even though November began with an 0-4-1 record, the Senators were playing much better. The players were buying into MacLean's system, and the difference in their overall defensive game was noticeable.

As loyal Senators' fans were being panned for stuffing the ballot boxes to ensure their local heroes would be well-represented at the upcoming All-Star Game at Scotiabank Place, the team kept improving. While there were bouts with inconsistency earlier in the year, the Sens have racked up a fantastic 23-10-6 mark over the last 39 contests. Their current 10-1-2 record has pulled them to within three points of the red-hot, Northeast Division-leading Boston Bruins, and trail the Flyers by just two points for fourth place in the Eastern Conference standings.

There have been several reasons for the turnaround in Ottawa's fortunes, here are the major factors:

The emergence of Erik Karlsson -- Maybe more than any other player, Karlsson's metamorphosis in his continuing journey of becoming an elite NHL defenseman has had the biggest impact on the Senators. With 43 points in 44 games, he is the NHL's highest-scoring defenseman at the midway point in the season.

The 21-year-old Swede's mobility and offensive abilities make him the most lethal skater for Ottawa. His 37 assists place him second among all NHL skaters, just four less than Vancouver's Henrik Sedin's leading total. He's also been much more reliable in his own end this season. After posting a horrific -30 during the 2010-11 campaign, Karlsson is a +4 this year.

Karlsson's propensity for being able to to put the puck on net from the right point on the Sens' power play has been invaluable, as evidenced by his man advantage 18 points (1 goal, 17 assists). That means he has been in on over 64% of the Senators' scoring 28 power play goals. Along with Boston's Zdeno Chara and Nashville's Shea Weber, Karlsson is one of the front-runners to win the award in RLD Hockey's mid-season Norris Trophy evaluation.

"Erik's obviously a very important player for us," said MacLean via the club's official website. "He generates a lot of offense for us, and is arguably our best player."

Milan Michalek -- In just 39 games, the 27-year-old winger's 23 goals has already surpassed his best output in a season since being dealt to Ottawa by San Jose before the 2009-10 campaign. Beginning with two goals on opening night, Michalek has been the model of consistency. He has not gone more than five games without scoring a goal at any time during the year, and looks like a lock to top his career-high goal mark of 26, set with the Sharks back in the 2006-07 campaign.

The coaching of Paul MacLean -- After spending the last six seasons as an assistant coach for the Detroit Red Wings, MacLean has definitely shown he has learned a few things from Mike Babcock along the way. It was no secret that Cory Clouston, who was fired following the non-playoff finish last season, had lost control of the team. Alexei Kovalev took a shot at Clouston on his way back to Russia after the season ended, and while no other players will go on record as acknowledging the same, some have mentioned the improvement in the atmosphere surrounding the club this year under MacLean.

Yet it still took a bit of time before the players fully grasped onto MacLean's teaching, but they are fully seeing the rewards with hard work and following their respective roles. Maybe Karlsson said it best in an interview with Sports Illustrated's Michael Farber in November:

"I've played for five, six different coaches as a pro and the way he thinks we should play is the way I want to play," says Karlsson, 21, who has a goal and 12 assists. "He thinks we should have possession. Not to make stupid plays all the time, but to play with a lot of skill. He can get mad at me, but I know it's for a good cause. Guys know he was a good hockey player and that he knows what to do. He understands how players think and what they're going through."

Craig Anderson -- After posting an 11-5-1 mark after coming over from the Colorado Avalanche late last season, GM Bryan Murray knew he needed to re-sign the pending UFA. With a new four-year deal in place, Anderson has responded with a 22-12-4 record, which includes his first shutout of the year, a 34-save effort last night against the New York Rangers. His 22 victories is second-most in the League, and he has covered up for some major deficiencies in Ottawa's play in their own zone.

Although snubbed by not being named to the NHL All-Star Game -- perhaps a victim of the large presence of Senators already heading to the midseason Classic -- the 30-year-old netminder could very well throw his name into the Vezina Trophy mix by year's end.

Health of the captain and Spezza -- Serious injuries that kept both Daniel Alfredsson and Jason Spezza out of the lineup for an extended period of time all but killed Ottawa's playoff hopes last season. They've both been healthy this year, and have been the key contributors the club has come to expect for so many seasons. Even though he doesn't lead the club in goals or assists, Spezza leads the Senators in points with 46 (18 goals, 28 assists), and Alfie, who sits third in team scoring, has played well in posting 14 goals and 33 points.

Secondary scoring -- While Ottawa's top names have been producing, the contributions of their role players have been enormous. In addition to some bringing defensive awareness and grit, Nick Foligno and Zack Smith each have scored 12 goals, Colin Greening has nine, Erik Condra and Chris Neil each have seven, and Bobby Butler has tallied five times.

The acquisition of Kyle Turris has also provided a big boost. Even though he has just a goal and eight points since moving northeast, the team has gone 9-1-2 in the 12 games since bringing the disgruntled Phoenix forward into the Sens' ranks.

Improvement in defensive play -- Along with Karlsson, the blueline corps includes a rejuvenated Sergei Gonchar, Chris Phillips, team plus / minus leader Filip Kuba (+15), rookie Jared Cowen, Brian Lee, and Matt Carkner.

Because of the early-season deluge of goals allowed, only two other Eastern Conference teams have given up more goals that Ottawa's 144 -- Carolina (150), and Tampa Bay (146).

The influence of MacLean on the defensive responsibility of all players, forwards included, has led to the decreasing amount of goals yielded by the constantly improving squad. The Senators have yielded just 13 goals over the course of the past seven games, and just one in the last two contests.

As the current campaign progresses, there is definitely a feeling that something special is happening in Canada's capital. The All-Star Game will be played at month's end, with a heavy Senators presence. Every aspect of MacLean's club is heading in the right direction, making the resurgence of Ottawa one of the first half's best stories.


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