Sens Should Stick with Brian Elliot over Pascal Leclaire

Pascal Leclaire is just about ready to return from his injury and I, as an Ottawa Senators fan, am very worried about this.  I’m not a believer in Pascal Leclaire and I don’t think many Senators fans are.  Sure he makes big saves now and then, but I’m just not a fan of his style and his record with the Senators speaks for itself.  Let’s take a look at each players stats over this season and last:

Pascal Leclaire

This Season

Leclaire started the first 4 games for Ottawa this season, but was injured very early in the fourth game of the season vs the Hurricanes.  Here are the stats:

• 0 wins, 3 losses
• .903 save percentage and 3.24 goals against average
• 103 shots against over 185 minutes in goal = 0.56 shots against per minute

Last Season

Leclaire was hurt or the back-up for much of last season, but he did get 34 starts for the Sens:

• 12 wins, 16 losses
• .887 save percentage and 3.20 goals against average
• 822 shots against over 1745 minutes in goal = 0.47 shots against per minute

Brian Elliot

This Season

Elliot has started every game since Leclaire’s injury.  Here are the stats:

• 5 wins, 4 losses
• .900 save percentage, 3.22 goals against average
• 271 shots against over 503 minutes in goal = 0.54 shots against per minute

Last Season

Elliot was the Senators starter for the majority of last season:

• 29 wins, 22 losses
• .909 save percentage and 2.57 goals against average
• 1424 shots against over 3038 minutes in goal = 0.47 shots against per minute

Now a few numbers should jump at you right away.  First off all, the Senators are a winning team with Elliot in net, while they are a losing team with Leclaire.  This is true for both seasons.  That right there is enough reason for the Senators to stick with Elliot in my opinion.

I hate hearing how fans will see Leclaire make a few big saves against the Maple Leafs in a 5-1 loss and say that if it weren’t for Leclaire the score would have been 10-1.  That is ridiculous.  It’s not like he got 100 shots against.  Sure, if you want a goalie to make some spectacular saves in a losing cause Leclaire is your man.  But if you want a goaltender to make the saves that should be made and the key saves that need to be made to win a game then it’s fairly obvious that Elliot is the man for the job.  How many times does Elliot have to fight and earn the starting job, then play well and still have it taken away from him to give an unproven goaltender who had one good season in Columbus another shot.  The only reason I can see that Leclaire is getting more chances is his big contract and the trade that sent away a solid player, Antoine Vermette, for absolutely nothing except a big contract with a goaltender who knows how to lose.

Watch Leclaire next time he starts and focus on his rebound control.  He has none.  He attacks the puck, making some big saves, but he will almost always let out a big rebound into a dangerous scoring position.  Sure, Elliot isn’t the perfect goaltender, but if you watch him he doesn’t let out many rebounds and he finds the puck well in scrambles and he makes the key saves, while not allowing many soft goals.  What more can you ask from the guy.  The team seems to appreciate his simple do the right thing in the first place style and they play better in front of him which shows by the teams winning percentages.

I just hope Cory Clouston realizes that Leclaire is not the man for the job.  Last season the Sens started their huge win streak when Leclaire got hurt.  This year they turned their season around with a win when Leclaire got hurt and have been over .500 every since.

If Leclaire starts then my NHL betting strategy will be to wager against the Senators every time.  Otherwise I’m going to be going with the Sens to win most games for proline betting picks.  I like the Sens this season and as long as they can stay away from Pascal Leclaire the playoffs are right around the corner.