Phaneuf packing his bags for Hollywood
D-man misses end of loss to Penguins after being dealt to Kings in four-player swap
Dion Phaneuf’s stay with the Ottawa Senators has come to an end.
The Senators pulled alternate captain Dion Phaneuf from their 6-3 loss to the Penguins Tuesday night after the second period and they finalized a deal that sent him to the Los Angeles Kings with Nate Thompson in exchange for Marian Gaborik and Nick Shore.
Phaneuf was sad to leave, but pleased with the deal.
“I have nothing but good things to say about the city, the organization and my time here,” Phaneuf said. “It’s disappointing when you do get moved, but with saying that I’m very excited about where I’m going and to be a Los Angeles King. I’m going to do whatever I can to help the team.”
Phaneuf said Los Angeles is a good fit because his wife Elisha Cuthbert is an actress and they have a home there.
“I want to thank the Ottawa Senators, the organization and my teammates. What we went through last year I will never forget and I’ve got fond memories,” said Phaneuf. “I will always remember the run that we went on. I’m going to a team to help them win.”
The Senators retained 25 per cent of Phaneuf ’s salary.
“I haven’t really spoken to anyone, but it’s an unfortunate part of the business. He’s a good friend of mine and good friend of everybody on this team,” said captain Erik Karlsson. “He’s someone who did really well for us and someone we would have liked to have kept if the circumstances were different.
“That’s the unfortunate and sad part about the circumstances that we’re in that things like this are going to happen. They’re going to get a real quality guy. Everybody knows that things are going to happen.”
The Kings were one of the teams on Phaneuf ’s 12-team no-trade list, but complicating the deal Tuesday was the fact the Kings were in North Carolina and one of the players coming back was still on the ice.
Naturally, this is a huge deal for the Senators because they get most of Phaneuf ’s cap hit off the books, but get Gaborik’s in return.
“This is tough because they’re real character guys and they’re real pros,” said coach Guy Boucher.
This is the start of general manager Pierre Dorion’s promise to build the team back to respectability. The Senators had asked Phaneuf to waive his no-move clause in the summer so they could protect Marc Methot in the expansion draft, but couldn’t get the deal done.
Phaneuf didn’t return for the third period and played only 10:50. He was on for two goals against, but was told before the start of the third period that he wasn’t going to play because the Senators were going to finalize a deal that would send him to the Kings.
“We knew something was up,” said winger Mark Stone. “When you struggle, you lose teammates and changes get made. We had a real close relationship with Dion and Thompson as well.”
Finishing the game without Phaneuf didn’t help matters for the Senators.
“I know what it’s like. It’s not easy. It’s very strange. It basically happened to me a minute into the game,” said centre Matt Duchene, who was dealt to Ottawa in November by Colorado.
Only Derick Brassard, Colin White and Duchene were able to beat Matt Murray in this loss, while Jake Guentzel had two goals along with Zach Aston-Reese, while Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang scored for the Penguins.
It didn’t help starter Mike Condon left after allowing four goals on nine shots and was replaced by Craig Anderson to finish the game.
Coming off a 6-3 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs Saturday, coach Guy Boucher talked about the fact the Senators had to get off to a better start, especially against the top-ranked Penguins.
As has been the case all season, the Senators fell apart in the second period and allowed the Penguins to pull ahead 4-1.
A late goal by White with 2:41 left in the second pulled the Senators to within two goals. It was White’s second NHL goal and helped matters in what had been a difficult period.
The Penguins struck fast and furious.
Condon was pulled after allowing the Penguins the 4-1 lead. Aston-Reese scored his first NHL goal at 11:22 of the second and that’s when Condon was pulled. Earlier, Malkin had scored at 10:01 to give the Penguins a 3-1 lead.
Not long after the Senators got on the board, the Penguins pulled ahead 2-1 when Guentzel scored his second of the game. He went to the front of the net and pushed the puck by Condon at 5:10.
Pressing hard to get on the board, the Senators finally beat Murray when Brassard fired home his 15th of the season at 4:18 of the second. He went top shelf on Murray to tie it up 1-1.
The Senators return home to face the Buffalo Sabres Thursday.