Senators still need to find more offence if they lose Turris while bringing in Duchene
Don BrennanMore from Don Brennan
Updated: November 4, 2017 9:50 PM EDT
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If the Senators are going to lose Kyle Turris while trading for Matt Duchene, aren't they're really just spinning wheels?
Statistically, there's little separating the players. The Senators would be making disappear contract negotiations they're having problems finalizing, but they're still going to need to acquire some more offence elsewhere.
In Turris, they know what they have — a solid centre who can put up points, win face-offs and fits in well with his teammates.
Duchene is a bit of an unknown.
He's offensively gifted and skates like the wind. And he seems like a good guy.
So why has Avalanche GM Joe Sakic been trying to trade him for two years?
At 26, wouldn't you think Duchene is exactly the type of player you'd want to build around?
There must be something we're missing here.
In any case, Turris wasn't brought out to discuss the latest series of rumours after what very well could have been his last game at Canadian Tire Centre as a Senator. But his teammates and coach were asked if the speculation is becoming a distraction on a team appears to be playing with one.
"Nope," said Mark Stone. "Turrey is a professional. He comes in to work every day and does his thing. So no distraction on our side. We wanted to win the game tonight against the Vegas Golden Knights."
And then there's what Alex Burrows said about the heavy speculation the team's top centre is on his way out the door.
"What happens in the outside world, or sometimes I like to call it the 'fake news' world, doesn't really matter. "There's 20 guys in this locker room that care for each other, that wants to do well for each other, that wants to do extremely well for the logo that they're wearing. To us, all that's been said about us or me or other teammates on the outside … I think maybe if you're a young guy you start thinking about it, but once you've been around a little bit you know there's a lot of stories out there that are far from true."
Guy Boucher was adamant that his team was not distracted by the rumblings.
"No. No. You hear that stuff all the time," said Boucher. "We didn't talk about it. I didn't hear any players talk about it. So no. We just lost the game. Period."
So now, while the Senators try to string together some Ws, the rest of us now watch, wait and wonder.
We wonder if Turris even makes it to the charter headed for Sweden on Monday, or if his seat will be used by Duchene. If it's the latter, GM Pierre Dorion better not be done making moves.
STARTS AND STOPS
Jean-Gabriel Pageau was given a decent ovation after taking a beating from the much bigger Luca Sbisa, who had just pasted Tom Pyatt at the Vegas blue line. Sticking up for his teammate cost Pageau an extra two minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct. When Guy Boucher was delivered that news by the officials, it was easy to read his lips. "That's wrong," said Boucher. "That's just wrong." … The Senators penalty killers were clearly out of practice after only being used twice against Detroit on Thursday. As was pointed out, the Golden Knights would have been 4-for-5 on the power play had Erik Haula's first goal been scored three seconds earlier … The first Vegas power play would have been about three minutes had they not shortened it with a goal. They didn't let the Senators touch the puck for about 60 seconds on the delayed call, and when the whistle was blown it was a generous decision by the referee.
BETWEEN PERIODS
Maxime Legace's best first period save might have been the dive he took to stop a Dion Phaneuf shot. That chance was set up by Alex Burrows, who has tripled his season goal total in the last two games … Johnny Oduya dove to break up a pass on an odd man rush created when Oduya was caught out of position. And that's not the first time that could be said this season …I like Wes McCauley's animated penalty calls … Alex Tuch (pronounced Tuck) lived up to his name in opening the scoring. He tucked it neatly behind Craig Anderson after dancing around Fredrik Claesson.
BACK TO THE POINT
The "relentless" Golden Knights were outshooting the Senators 19-6 seven minutes into the second period. Plain and simple, that's just being outworked … Called a "power play expert" by Boucher earlier in the day, Chris DiDomenico had no one but Anderson behind him when he lost the puck to Pierre-Edouard Bellemare with the Senators having a man-advantage in the last minute of the second. Anderson made a good glove save, and DiDomenico thanked him … Currently unemployed, former Senators coach of the year Paul MacLean has watched the last two games (at least) from the CTC press box. The Paul-rus is in town visiting family.
MAKES YOU GO HMMM
How is it Pageau and Sbisa were just given roughing penalties for their first period punch-up? It should have been the second career fighting major for Pageau, who was given one for a scrap with T.J. Brennan of the Maple Leafs on Mar. 28, 2015. I don't remember it, but going with a Brennan couldn't have turned out well for Pageau … The 6-foot-2, 209-pound Sbisa has had 14 regular season fights in the NHL … I don't think I knew the right-handed shooting Erik Karlsson writes with his left hand until I saw him sign a stick at centre ice before the opening draw. I'm usually more observant.
The Golden Knights scored the first goal for only the sixth time in their 14-game history … The winner of the 50-50 draw took home $29,317 … Turris was once again very strong in the circles, winning 11 of his 17 draws. Nate Thompson was even better at 11-4 … Karlsson played 28:49, the most he has yet this season … Attendance was 16,824.
ANDY NOT SO HANDY WITH REBOUNDS
Craig Anderson made 29 saves, but was not at his best against the Vegas Golden Knights.
On too many occasions, he gave up costly second chances.
"We wanted to attack Anderson from down low," said Alex Tuch, who scored the Golden Knights first goal in a 5-4 victory over the Senators.
"That's what we did.
"We noticed he wasn't handling rebounds that well early on, and there were a couple of rebound goals on the power play. We got some good net presence in front and were able to get pucks right at the side of the net for the rebounds."
Anderson's start to the season has been subpar. His record is now 5-3-3, while his save percentage is under .900 (.896) and his goals against average over three. (3.13).
At the other end of the ice, he was outperformed by Maxime Lagace, who made 24 saves to pick up his first NHL win in his third start, and fourth appearance.
"It's good to have that first one, finally," Lagace said, sounding like a seasoned veteran. "The guys really played well. I have them to thank for that win. On to the next one."
Lagace admitted to some anxiousness after Erik Karlsson's goal with 34 seconds left cut the lead. Derick Brassard nearly tied it with a deflection that grazed off the outside of the post.
"I got nervous a little bit, but not nervous to the point where it could have affected my game," said Lagace. "They came right back with a tip and I just got a little piece of it. That scared me a little bit, but we got it, so it's all good."
Golden Knights coach Gerrard Gallant was happy for Lagace, the fourth goalie he's had to use already this season because of a slew of injuries.
"He played a real strong game," said Gallant. "They made it closer at the end that it should have been. All our guys worked really hard for 50 minutes and then I think we thought we won the game, and let off a little bit. We've got to make sure we complete those games harder at the end."
KARLSSON STILL TOPS AMONG DEFENCEMEN
Despite missing the first five game of the season, Erik Karlsson was tied for the scoring lead among NHL defenceman after Saturday's loss.
He experienced no relief in finally picking up his first goal, with 34 seconds left, to go along with a dozen assists.
"No not really, unfortunately," said Karlsson, who was dwelling on a close miss by Derick Brassard that would have tied the game. "I was hoping that Brass' one was going to go in at the end there. I don't know how it stayed out. That would have been a relief."
The Senators now head to Sweden having one victory in their last four games, and three in their last night.
They've been unable to take advantage of a home-heavy part of their schedule, or gain any type of traction whatsoever.
"I don't know. I wish I knew," said Mark Stone. "We're not playing poorly the entire night. There's stretches of the game where it's costing us. Our penalty kill hasn't been great over the last two weeks.
"It's a tough pill to swallow but we have to bounce back. Those games in Sweden are huge. We're not going there to have fun. We're going there to win. We're going there to work."
The end results are starting to take a toll. If it's not one thing, it's another that sends the Senators home with a loss more often than not.
That was evident in the words of Alex Burrows, who scored for the second game in a row and picked up his 400th career point.
"Doesn't really matter if I get on the scoresheet or not," said Burrows. "As long as the team is successful, that's what really matters to me. Even (though) I scored tonight I don't care. We lost. It's not a good feeling right now.
"My dad was disappointed."
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