Thursday Daily Puck: Sensational Senators

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Updated on March 26, 2015 12:07AM EST

Around the Rink
The Senators rise has been meteoric. They went from firing their coach earlier in the season, being left for dead, and having next to no chance of reaching the playoffs.

This week, they grabbed the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference away from the Boston Bruins and are on a tear like few teams have ever been able to do.

Here's a look at what the playoff probabilities look like for the Eastern Conference according to HockeyStats.ca.

playoff probabilities

A lot of the credit has right been given to an incredible run by goaltender Andrew Hammond. But what isn't looked at a whole lot there is how well the young players are playing. They've shown great growth throughout the season.

Take a look at the young players of the Senators below from October 9 through February 9, then February 10 through now. All the stats below are even strength and you see increased scoring rates, increased time, while they're almost all seeing their minutes insulated less now than they were at the beginning of the season.

(G/60 is goals per 60 minutes of even strength play, same for assists and points. ZSO%Rel is the percentage of zone starts the player gets in the offensive zone relative to how many the average is on the team.)

	G/60	A/60	P/60	CF%	CF%Rel	ZSO%Rel	TOI
Mike Hoffman 10/09-02/09	1.73	0.98	2.71	52.15%	3.43%	13.51%	11.53
Mike Hoffman 02/10-03/25	1.38	1.61	2.99	50.49%	-2.40%	4.87%	12.42
Mark Stone 10/09-02/09	1.06	1.28	2.34	53.82%	5.79%	15.87%	11.5
Mark Stone 02/10-03/25	0.6	2.19	2.79	50.86%	-2%	1.37%	14.35
Jean-Gabriel Pageau 10/09-02/09	0.55	0.77	1.28	49.05%	-3.65	-4.68%	11.12
Jean-Gabriel Pageau 02/10-03/25	0.79	1.32	2.12	54.11%	2.72%	-7.16%	11.92
Mika Zibanejad 10/09-02/09	0.91	0.5	1.41	49.38%	-0.16%	7.13%	12.15
Mika Zibanejad 02/10-03/25	1.08	1.73	2.81	49.53%	-3.77%	2.87%	13.23
Alex Chiasson 10/09-02/09	0.49	0.73	1.22	48.78%	-0.62%	3.22%	10.9
Alex Chiasson 02/10-03/25	0.91	1.51	2.42	53.07%	1%	5.65%	9.46
Patrick Wiercioch 10/09-02/09	0.15	0.31	0.46	55.02%	6.92%	11.42%	13.92
Patrick Wiercioch 02/10-03/25	0	0.85	0.85	55.74%	4.78%	1.20%	14.93
Curtis Lazar 10/09-02/09	0.29	0.73	1.02	49.12%	0.62%	7.19%	11.08
Curtis Lazar 02/10-03/25	0.47	0	0.47	53.36%	1.10%	-10.49%	12.83

Almost all of their young players, this side of Curtis Lazar, are picking up the pace and are looking like relevant fantasy options, if not this season, next season. They're proving that the Senators are for real.

Projected Goalie Starters (all times Eastern)
For updates on the projected goalies later in the day, check our Projected Goalies Grid

Anaheim Ducks (John Gibson) at Boston Bruins (Tuukka Rask), 7:00 PM
Arizona Coyotes (Mike Smith) at Buffalo Sabres (Matt Hackett), 7:00 PM
Los Angeles Kings (Jonathan Quick) at New York Islanders (Jaroslav Halak), 7:00 PM
New Jersey Devils (Cory Schneider) at Washington Capitals (Braden Holtby), 7:00 PM
Pittsburgh Penguins (Marc-Andre Fleury) at Carolina Hurricanes (Cam Ward), 7:00 PM
Florida Panthers (Roberto Luongo) at Toronto Maple Leafs (Jonathan Bernier), 7:30 PM
New York Rangers (Cam Talbot) at Ottawa Senators (Andrew Hammond), 7:30 PM
San Jose Sharks (Antti Niemi) at Detroit Red Wings (Jimmy Howard), 7:30 PM
Nashville Predators (Pekka Rinne) at Tampa Bay Lightning (Ben Bishop), 7:30 PM
Montreal Canadiens (Dustin Tokarski) at Winnipeg Jets (Ondrej Pavelec), 8:00 PM
Colorado Avalanche (Semyon Varlamov) at Vancouver Canucks (Eddie Lack), 10:00 PM

Injury News For Teams Playing Thursday

Anaheim Ducks
Tim Jackman, RW - (lower body) has begun skating again. Korbinian Holzer, D - (concussion) remains out.

Boston BruinsBrett Connolly, RW - (finger) has started skating again. Dougie Hamilton, D - (shoulder) is out indefinitely. Kevan Miller, D - (shoulder) is on LTIR David Krejci, C - (knee) is progressing, but not ready for game a

Projected Goalie Starters (all times Eastern)
For updates on the projected goalies later in the day, check our Projected Goalies Grid

Injury News For Teams Playing Thursday

Anaheim Ducks
Tim Jackman, RW - (lower body) has begun skating again.
Korbinian Holzer, D - (concussion) remains out.

Boston Bruins
Brett Connolly, RW - (finger) has started skating again.
Dougie Hamilton, D - (shoulder) is out indefinitely.
Kevan Miller, D - (shoulder) is on LTIR
David Krejci, C - (knee) is progressing, but not ready for game action.

Arizona Coyotes
Lauri Korpikoski, LW - (mouth) is day-to-day after taking a high stick to the mouth.
Martin Hanzal, C - (back) is done for the season.
Mikkel Boedker, LW - (ruptured spleen) has been ruled out for the season.

Buffalo Sabres
Evander Kane, LW - (shoulder) is out for the season.
Matt Hackett, G - (knee) is expected to return on Thursday.
Chad Johnson, G - (lower body) will miss an extended period of time.
Mark Pysyk, D - (undisclosed) will likely miss the remainder of the season.
Jerry D'Amigo, RW - (mouth) is unlikely to play on Thursday.
Zemgus Girgensons, C - (ankle) is unlikely to play again this year.
Josh Gorges, D - (lower body) is on IR.
Patrick Kaleta, RW - (knee) skated with the team Wednesday morning and remains hopeful to play Thursday against the Coyotes.
Zach Bogosian, D - (lower body) could play Thursday.
Cody McCormick, C - (leg) skated Tuesday, but is still likely to be out the rest of the season.

Los Angeles Kings
Slava Voynov, D - (domestic violence charges) Voynov is unlikely to play this season while he continues to go through the legal system for charges of domestic violence.
Tanner Pearson, LW - (leg) remains out.
Jarret Stoll, C - (upper body) resumed skating Tuesday.

New York Islanders
Mikhail Grabovski, C - (concussion) is not close to returning.
Lubomir Visnovsky, D - lower body) didn't practice Wednesday.

New Jersey Devils
Bryce Salvador, D - (back) isn't likely to play again this season.
Ryane Clowe, LW - (concussion) is done for the season.

Washington Capitals
Jay Beagle, C - (upper body) skated on his own after Monday's practice.
Tim Gleason, D - (elbow) is expect to return Thursday.
John Erskine, D - (neck) resumed skating with the team Tuesday.

Pittsburgh Penguins
Olli Maatta, D - (shoulder) is out for the season.
Pascal Dupuis, RW - (blood clots) will not play this season.
Christian Ehrhoff, D - (head) is without an update, but appears unlikely for Thursday.
Evgeni Malkin, C - (lower body) won't travel with the team for Thursday's game.
Patric Hornqvist, RW - (undisclosed) won't play Thursday

Carolina Hurricanes
Jack Hillen, D - (concussion) remains out.
Rasmus Rissanen, D - (MCL) is out.

Florida Panthers
Al Montoya, G - (groin) is out.
Steve Kampfer, D - (groin) won't play thursday.
Nick Bjugstad, C - (lower body) didn't play Tuesday.

Toronto Maple Leafs
Tyler Biggs, RW - (achilles) is out.
Zach Sill, RW - (undisclosed) is uncertain for Thursday.
Nathan Horton, RW - (back) is out.
Stephane Robidas, D - (shoulder) is out for the season.
Roman Polak, D - (hernia) is out for the season.
Trevor Smith, C - (undiscloseD) is uncertain for Thursday.
Nazem Kadri, C - (suspension) remains out with a suspension.
Peter Holland, C - (lower body) skated on his own prior to Wednesday's practice. (

New York Rangers
Kevin Klein, D - (upper body) will not play Thursday.
Martin St. Louis, RW - (lower body) is still out.

Ottawa Senators
Chris Neil, RW - (thumb) is still out.
Craig Anderson, G - (hand) could be ready to reenter the Sens' goaltending mix as soon as this weekend.
Milan Michalek, LW - (concussion) is out.
Clarke MacArthur, LW - hopes to be back this weekend.
Robin Lehner, G - (concussion) is out.
Andrew Hammond, G - (undisclosed) suffered an unspecified injury Monday against against the Sharks, indicated Wednesday that he will "be good to go" Thursday night against the Rangers.
Chris Phillips, D - (undisclosed) is not viewed as close to a return.

San Jose Sharks
Mike Brown, RW - (leg) continued to skate Saturday morning, but still remains far off from returning to game action.
Raffi Torres, LW - (knee) is out for the season.

Detroit Red Wings
Pavel Datsyuk, C - 9lower body) could play Thursday.
Erik Cole, RW - (upper body) will miss Thursday's game.
Niklas Kronwall, D - (lower body) could play Thursday.
Johan Franzen, RW - (concussion) has skated, but isn't ready to return.
Jonas Gustavsson, G - (concussion) expects to return to practice in the near future.

Nashville Predators
Eric Nystrom, LW - (lower body) will not travel with the Predators during their two-game road trip that begins Thursday.
Matt Cullen, C - (lower body) will travel with the Predators on their two-game road trip beginning Thursday.
Viktor Stalberg, LW - (lower body) will travel with the Predators on their two-game road trip beginning Thursday.
James Neal, RW - (upper body) is in line to miss the Predators' two-game road trip starting Thursday.

Tampa Bay Lightning
Michael Blunden, RW - (knee) is out for the season.
Cedric Paquette, C - (upper body) is being listed as questionable for Thursday's game.
Braydon Coburn, D - (lower body) is on IR.

Montreal Canadiens
Tom Gilbert, D - (face) is out.

Winnipeg Jets
Grant Clitsome, D - (upper body) is out.
Paul Postma, D - (undisclosed) will miss "a number of weeks."
Ben Chiarot, D - (hand) remains out.
Mathieu Perreault, C - (lower body) is out indefinitely.
Bryan Little, C - (upper body) is out.
Dustin Byfuglien, D - (upper body) is out.

Colorado Avalanche
Daniel Briere, RW - (foot) did not play Wednesday.
Erik Johnson, D - (knee) has skated, but isn't ready to return.
Jamie McGinn, LW - (back) is out for the season.
Jesse Winchester, LW - (concussion) is out.
Ryan Wilson, D - (shoulder) is out for the season.
Nathan MacKinnon, C - (foot) is out.
Borna Rendulic, RW - (broken leg) is out.

Vancouver Canucks
Zack Kassian, RW - (back) suffered a setback and is out.
Ryan Miller, G - (knee) has skated, but isn't likely to play until the postseason.
Brad Richardson, C - (ankle) could be limited by his injury for the remainder of the season.

Hot
Mark Stone, RW, OTT -- The 22-year-old winger is riding a four-game point streak with a goal and five assists over that stretch. As I pointed out above, he's been playing well, surpassing expectations and those numbers hold up even when you stretch out the time frame. In 21 games since February 10, he has six goals and 16 assists.

Jakub Voracek, RW, PHI -- Voracek's breakout season won't stop. In the last six games he has a goal and six assists. He's already blown his career-high in assists and points away and is only two goals from setting a career-high there as well.

Cold
Antti Niemi, G, SJS -- Even when Niemi plays well, he can't catch a break and it isn't giving owners a whole lot to work with. Over his last five games he's only been above a .900 Sv% twice and those two were identical .964 Sv%, but he only got a win in one of those two starts. Niemi has been hit and miss most of the season and the Sharks have been playing poorly lately, so it's not a great time to be a Niemi owner.

Kimmo Timonen, D, CHI -- Some might have thought Timonen would be a sneaky pick up after the Blackhawks made a trade to acquire him. In 10 games since his return he has yet to score a point. He has a minus-2 rating and has put up just seven shots. The ice time has been low as well. Wednesday night's return to Philadelphia was only one of two times he's been over 15 minutes so far. Timonen has overcome a lot to get back on the ice and play out the season before he retires, but he's not a great fantasy option at the moment.

Recommended Pickup
Jean-Gabriel Pageau, C, OTT -- Pageau is one of the many young Senators forwards who has really picked it up recently and could be wroth a look if you're desperate and hoping to catch lightning in a bottle before the end of the season. In 40 games this season Pageau has just six goals and eight assists, but the pace has been great lately, including three goals and three assists over the last eight games. He's also a plus-2 with an average of 2.13 shots per game. He's trending in the right direction and might be your chance to grab a player, especially in a deep league, who is going to be available and on a hot streak.

The author(s) of this article may play in daily fantasy contests including – but not limited to – games that they have provided recommendations or advice on in this article. In the course of playing in these games using their personal accounts, it's possible that they will use players in their lineups or other strategies that differ from the recommendations they have provided above. The recommendations in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of RotoWire.