While the merit of the plus-minus statistic has been questioned, it still carries weight with the captain of the Ottawa Senators.
“It’s been a frustrating stat for me this year,” Jason Spezza said of his minus-17 mark, per the Ottawa Sun. “I’ve been plus-20s in the past. This year when something goes wrong it seems I’m on the ice for it. It is what it is. I’m mature enough of a player to know I have to be on the ice for more goals for, than against.”
Spezza needs to be on the ice for a few more goals against before reaching the depths of Edmonton’s Nail Yakupov -- owner of the league’s worst rating, at minus-31 -- but he does have a pretty poor rating, along with fellow Sens forward Milan Michalek (minus-19).
The more pressing issue might be Spezza’s lack of production. He has just five points in his last 12 games and is on pace for 56 this season, a far cry from the 84 points he put up in his last full season (over 80 games, during the 2011-12 campaign.)
Despite this, Ottawa’s played reasonably well of late. The Sens have won four of seven in 2014 and taken points from every game, save Saturday’s 4-1 loss to the Rangers.
Spezza acknowledged that wins and losses are much more important measures than pluses and minuses.
“We went through a tough stretch at the start of the year,” he said. “I don’t have to worry about plus-minus, I have to worry about helping to get us wins.”