The trend of being better on the road also holds true in the 2012-12 seasons, when both Spezza and Alfredsson were fixtures on the power play. In 2013-14, when Jason Spezza served as captain, they cashed in on a mere 11.8% of opportunities at Canadian Tire Centre (30th on the home-ice scale), while converting on 25% of their power plays away from the building (second in the NHL). Last season, they ranked 26th at home (15.5%) and 13th away (18.2%). As bizarre as it seems, year after year, the Senators have consistently been poor on the power play at home but productive everywhere else. If you look deeper at the numbers, it’s not a blip on the radar. So, maybe this home versus away power play thing is just a single-season statistical anomaly, one of those weird things that happens in hockey occasionally and is hard to explain? There may be subtle differences in the boards or ice conditions, a disadvantage for opposition teams unfamiliar with odd bounces. Home teams also enjoy the last change, creating favourable match-ups. The energy of a home crowd can often force opponents into mistakes. Typically, a team should be considerably better on the power play at home. The silver lining is that the Senators have been impressive with the man advantage on the road, clicking on 11 of 51 chances in 16 games, a 21.6% success rate which ranks 10th in the league. The Senators are 8-for-64 with the man advantage in 20 games at Canadian Tire Centre, a 12.5% success rate that ranks 28th in the NHL on home ice. Now, on to the bigger power-play picture. It’s a lost point for the Senators, which could come back to haunt them as the rest of the Atlantic Division inches closer. That was unacceptable, allowing the Red Wings to hang around long enough to deliver a 3-2 overtime victory. The Senators came up empty on a 1:16 stretch with a 5-on-3 advantage during the second period, managing a single shot against Red Wings rookie goaltender Jared Coreau. National Capital Region's Top Employers.
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