DENVER - At every stop along the way, there are well-respected NHL observers who can’t quite get a grip on why the Ottawa Senators continue to win.
They look at some of the usual telltale numbers of what spells success — including elite power play and/or penalty killing units — and wonder whether it’s all smoke-and-mirrors.
The Senators power play is stumbling along at 17.6%, 21st in the league. In shorthanded situations, they rank 11th overall at 82%, which is decent, but hardly spectacular.
And then there’s the overall goal differential of plus-7 — a rather pedestrian eighth best in the Eastern Conference and 14th overall in the league.