The Senators lost a hockey game, but there are greater concerns than that as a forward group already stretched pretty thin took a hit (literally and figuratively) or two against the Flyers.
Both Mika Zibanejad and Milan Michalek left the game last night, Zibanejad after taking a forearm to the chin from Radko Gudas and Michalek after blocking a point shot with his hand. No word yet on just how long Zibanejad will be out of action (if at all), but Dave Cameron confirmed Michalek broke his hand on the play and will be out long-term.
So expect Matt Puempel and perhaps at least one other forward to get recalled, unless Colin Greening gets a shot to play tomorrow night against the Hawks.
As for the play on the ice, it was the classic first game after a long road trip, a game where there wasn't much clicking and the Flyers used a strong second period and some quality saves from Steve Mason to exact some payback for the 4-0 shutout the Senators handed the Flyers 10 days earlier.
Sean Couturier, who was discussed yesterday, scored the empty netter and also set up two goals for the Flyers.
Kyle Turris was robbed in the first period point-blank, and Mason made a couple of brilliant saves in the third to maintain the one goal lead, even if he did directly cause one of the chances by clearing the puck right onto the stick of Mark Stone, who was noticeably frustrated after the glove snag from Mason.
The Senators were victims of their own carelessness, and inability to cover the point men that led to the first two goals. And despite the defensemen of the Flyers jumping off the bench early during a line change, that is no excuse for the missed coverage because there was lots of time to identify their man. A couple of turnovers by Erik Karlsson led to the winner as well as the insurance goal, at a time when the Senators needed to settle things down. There will be games like that over the course of the season from a player who has the confidence to try things. Its not always going to work and sometimes you don't get bailed out.
You can complain that the Gudas hit was a head shot (it was) and deserved a penalty (it did, and he will at least have a hearing with NHL player safety for what its worth) but that is not the reason the Senators didn't win this game. The Senators battled back from 1 goal deficits twice, but couldn't find the equalizer for a third time despite their best efforts.
Quite frankly, like I said in the preview this isn't the same Flyers team that they played to end the last homestand and this result was probably the inevitable one. The injuries are an added slap in the face.
The next three weeks will be a big test, with a number of top end teams on the horizon and a lot of divisional games as they will play almost every second night between now and Christmas (following a back to back this weekend). It will also be a test for Craig Anderson, who until further notice (at least until Andrew Hammond gets close to returning) looks like he will be the guy every night. If he keeps facing 33 or 34 shots a night, and has to prepare to face 70 attempts game in and game out he is going to get worn out quickly.
This is certainly not the time that the Senators would have liked to have two of their top 9 forwards go down long-term.
One player who will likely get thrust into the spotlight is Curtis Lazar, the most likely player to slide into the #2C spot behind Turris, assuming of course that Zibanejad misses time (only the scratches from last night are skating today).
Hoffman - Turris - Ryan Prince - Lazar - Stone Puempel - Pageau - Chiasson Greening/??? - Smith - Neil
The ??? could be anyone from Cole Schnieder, Ryan Dzingel, Max McCormick, Eric O'Dell, or even first year pro Tobais Lindberg.
Binghamton has their own set of problems, are in last place by a country mile in their division, so there is not an obvious callup to be made. Whoever it is, the Senators will have to adopt the old "next man up" mentality.
Looking at the schedule ahead and the injuries the team is dealing with, if they are not careful this month could put them in a tough situation and it could all get away from them very quickly.
Better buckle up, it looks like things are about to get a little bumpy.