FIVE QUICK THOUGHTS
-Devastating. No other way to describe it really. Heading into Sunday, the Senators had a chance to catch the Montreal Canadiens for top spot in the Atlantic Division. Instead they’re down four forwards and in serious trouble as they hit the road for their next four. Full credit to the remaining eight forwards who gave a pretty serious push in this one and came damn close to tying the game late.
-You would be hard pressed to find a hit with more direct head contact than the one Jacob Trouba caught Mark Stone with in the third period. And yet still the officials determined that it was only worthy of a two minute penalty. Stone, who has a history of concussions including one earlier this season, was able to skate off the ice on his own but he went straight to the room and didn’t return. Not a good sign. Trouba, who has a reputation for his sort of thing, is likely to be suspended but what’s infuriating is that they missed the 5 minute major call on the ice.
-Mike Hoffman didn’t come out for the start of the second period after leaving the bench with a few minutes to play in the first. With Bobby Ryan already out for 3-6 weeks and Stone’s status unknown, the Senators certainly can’t afford to be without Hoffman for any extended period of time. The official word from the team was a lower body injury. You’ll recall in the New Jersey game he looked a little bit off for a few shifts late in the game after tweaking his knee. Hopefully it’s not related to that. Tommy Wingels also left the game in the third period with what also looked like a possible concussion.
-The Senators are travelling today and will return to the ice tomorrow morning ahead of their game against the Devils. We may have to wait until then to get an update on the injured players. Although we may see a couple call ups before then. Given the situation, there will be plenty of clamoring for a trade but it’s obviously not the ideal time to try and make a deal. Not only are the prices already high leading up to the deadline but the Senators are clearly in a desperate situation.
-As if losing their two top wingers wasn’t frustrating enough, it appeared as though the Senators were also robbed of a tying goal late in the game. With the clock ticking down in the third, Jean Gabriel Pageau appeared to push the puck over the goal line. Unfortunately the camera angles didn’t provide the conclusive evidence required. Using a little bit of common sense you could certainly reach the conclusion that the puck was in the net. No common sense allowed with video review though.
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