Ottawa Citizen

SUDDENLY, SENS HURTING

Three injured in loss, Ryan out, too

- BRUCE GARRIOCH bgarrioch@postmedia.com Twitter: @sungarrioc­h

The Ottawa Senators had a chance to move into a first-place tie in the Atlantic Division with the Montreal Canadiens.

And, at this rate, they’ll be lucky if they have anyone left standing.

The Senators dropped a controvers­ial 3-2 decision to the Winnipeg Jets in front of a sellout crowd of 19,288 at Canadian Tire Centre Sunday and when the final buzzer sounded Ottawa had only eight healthy forwards on its bench.

The Senators felt they had tied it up in the dying seconds when Jean-Gabriel Pageau appeared to push the puck past Winnipeg goalie Connor Hellebuyck, but after a review it was ruled inconclusi­ve.

Already without winger Bobby Ryan, who could be out up to six weeks with a broken right index finger suffered Saturday at the hands of the Maple Leafs, the Senators finished without winger Mike Hoffman, who went to the dressing room with 2:55 left in the first and didn’t return after suffering a lower-body injury. The club only had 11 forwards dressed.

Mark Stone, opened the scoring for Ottawa, left with just over 12 minutes left in the third after taking a hit to the head from Winnipeg’s Jacob Trouba. He was only given two minutes for an illegal check to the head, but coach Guy Boucher was incensed Trouba wasn’t given a five-minute major.

Winger Tommy Wingels also departed late in the third after getting hit by Winnipeg’s Dustin Byfuglien.

Boucher said the news wasn’t good on any of them.

“Tough day with the loss of Bobby and then we lost another bunch of guys. At some point I felt there was nobody on the bench,” said Boucher. “I can give you an update — it doesn’t look good. We have to wait until tomorrow to be clear and precise about all these guys.

“Right now, we could be losing quite a few guys … It looks like a disaster. We’ll see tomorrow and maybe the disaster is not as bad as we think, but you’ve got to be ready for anything.”

Only Zack Smith and Stone were able to beat Hellebuyck. Patrik Laine and Mark Scheifele had two assists each for the Jets, while Josh Morrissey, Mathieu Perreault and Byfuglien did the scoring on Ottawa goalie Mike Condon.

Pageau thought he tied it at 19:56 and was surprised it wasn’t a goal.

“From my angle, I pushed the puck and my full blade was in the net, I pushed the puck with my blade. It’s hard. I guess they have better cameras. It was inconclusi­ve, so they couldn’t find the puck, but obviously I thought the puck was in for sure. It could have gotten us a point,” Pageau said.

That added insult to this loss and the Senators are going to have to recall players from the American Hockey League before they start a four-game road trip Tuesday against New Jersey.

Not long after the Jets took a 3-1 lead after a bad giveaway by Curtis Lazar on Morrissey’s shot that bounced off defenceman Cody Ceci and by Condon at 2:33, Smith’s 14th of the season brought his club to within a goal with 14:55 left in the game when he redirected it by Hellebuyck.

“That was a tough bounce (off Ceci). He blocks that nine times out of 10. The puck is going so fast, I think he tried to get out of the way. That’s just a tough break. Sometimes they go your way. Sometimes they don’t,” Condon said.

The Senators pulled to within a goal and trailed 2-1 after 40 minutes.

Following a listless first, the Senators got on the board thanks to Stone’s 22nd. He fired a shot from the slot by Hellebuyck at 5:10 of the second.

“That’s (a) tough (loss). It just goes to show how tough the schedule is and back to back especially,” said Smith. “It’s tough to see guys leave midgame. I think we did a good job sticking together, rallying and trying to pick up loose ends when guys went down.”

The first wasn’t exactly wide open; however, the Jets found their way. Perreault was left all alone down low, took a feed from Scheifele and beat Condon with a backhander on the stick side at 12:28 to give Winnipeg a twogoal lead.

The Senators hoped for a good start, but that wasn’t exactly the case. Only 1:09 into the game, they were trailing after Byfuglien fired a blast by Condon on the glove side to give the Jets a 1-0 lead.

“We didn’t play a horrible game. They just had a better first period. We just couldn’t find a way to put the puck in the net,” said captain Erik Karlsson.

The Senators may have, but in the end this was a loss that hurt in more ways than one.

POSSIBLE SUSPENSION?

The Senators can only hope the NHL throws the book at Trouba.

They felt the referees should have in the first place.

It won’t get them back Stone, who has a history with concussion­s, however; he could be out for a while after he got a headshot from Trouba in the second period of the club’s 3-1 loss to Winnipeg.

Boucher didn’t like the hit one bit.

“It’s a clear hit to the head with the shoulder,” said Boucher, who was livid when Trouba was only given two minutes. “It’s one of the best players in the league and I think everybody saw the same thing.”

The next decision will be up to the department of player safety and everything is reviewed by the league.

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 ?? FRED CHARTRAND/THE CANADIAN PRESS ?? Ottawa Senators forward Mark Stone is hit by Winnipeg Jets defenceman Jacob Trouba Sunday during the Jets’ 3-2 win in Ottawa. Stone left the game with a suspected concussion, while Trouba was given a two-minute minor for an illegal check to the head.
FRED CHARTRAND/THE CANADIAN PRESS Ottawa Senators forward Mark Stone is hit by Winnipeg Jets defenceman Jacob Trouba Sunday during the Jets’ 3-2 win in Ottawa. Stone left the game with a suspected concussion, while Trouba was given a two-minute minor for an illegal check to the head.
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