The Sens have gone 9-11-2 in there last 22 games dating back to December 29th. Lots of questions to be asked but not many answers.

Which goalie will emerge as the number 1?

Both Emery and Gerber have been terrible since mid November and both have under .900sv% since then. Paddock is set to name the number one next weekend but both goalies refuse to make the decision for Paddock. Emery was sitting on a prime opportunity last night, had started three of the last four and with a win against the Devils would have begun to cement himself for the job. What happens he allows an atrocious 2nd goal of the game and the Sens lose, opening the door once again for Gerber. Now Gerber will get the next start and he now has a huge opportunity to take the job.

One goalie needs to emerge, Gerber can steal games but is prone to mental slumps and if that happens your out in five come playoffs. Emery has shown an ability in the past to be consistent over long stretches but this season he has been consistently awful. No easy decision here, in the off season expect this issue to finally be solved for the first time in Ottawa Senators history. Hopefully the current tandem can find consistency until then.

Where is the defensive system?

John Paddock has taken a lot of heat for the lack of system in Ottawa. Forwards have forgotten to back check, defensemen never take there men in front of the net and rebounds are not grabbed fast enough. Add this too the terrible goaltending and it is a total mess. So what needs to be done?

The Sens need to begin paying attention to detail. They have enough leadership in the locker room to right the ship. It begins with the forwards back checking hard, there is no excuse for not doing it, look for the Sens to really be at this in there next game and build on it. With the forwards back checking hard the defense can take away the slot area. With big defensive defensemen such as Commodore, Phillips and Volchenkov this should not be a problem. As that clicks the rebounds the goalie gives up will taken care of.

It all begins with back checking.

Who steps up as secondary scorers?

The Sens have the elite line of Heatley-Spezza-Alfredsson but after that they have been lacking in production. Fisher can go through stretches of phenomenal hockey but he is also prone to frustrating slumps that can stretch 10+ games. The Sens will need to get him going if they have any chance at breaking out of there funk, and they still need to find a scorer for Fisher to play with. It was thought Stillman would be that guy but he has clicked with Vermette and Kelly, this line may establish themselves as the Sens second line. Look for Murray to bring in another top six player by the trade deadline for Fisher to play with.

These are the three main areas of concern for the Sens right now, most pressing is the defensive system, if they can get that fixed over the next few games the other two areas of concern will become fixed as well and the Sens will be looking nice heading into the playoffs, if the defensive system is not fixed then Ottawa cold be out in the first round.