GARRIOCH: Broken hand for Brannstrom, bad hand for senators.

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Already understaffed, the Ottawa Senators took another hit on Friday.

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Sources told Postmedia late Friday that defender Erik Brannstrom could be out for eight weeks with a broken hand suffered at the end of a 2-0 loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday.

Senators are waiting to find out if surgery is required to confirm the schedule, but the trend is in that direction.

The Ottawa Senators had another day off the track Friday as they try to flatten the COVID-19 outbreak taking place in their dressing room.

Facing the difficult task of trying to stop a six-game losing streak, with Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins arriving in town to begin a series of back-to-back games that continues Sunday against the Calgary Flames, the Senators aren’t sure. which players will be in or out of these two games.

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Nine players are on COVID-19 protocol plus defender Artem Zub, who did not finish the game with an upper body injury suffered in the first period. The Senators are scheduled to do a morning skating Saturday morning, so we’ll see if there’s anyone ready or anyone else missing after the 2-0 loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday.

Senators took a break with no new names added to the protocol list on Friday.

Coach DJ Smith and everyone in the organization had no complaints about the effort in the loss to the Kings, but naturally the Senators would have liked a better result.

“I went in there and said I was proud of a lot of guys,” Smith said. “We played hard and did a lot of good things that just didn’t benefit us. There are no excuses, they are professional sports and you want to win every game, but there are certain situations where you are understaffed or whatever the case may be.

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“All you can do is ask your team to play hard, check in and give in for the good of the team. You are not creating so much offense and all men, even one man, did that. “

And they also had a little help with a solid effort on the net.

With back-to-back games, you can expect Filip Gustavsson to return to the net on Saturday and then expect to see backup Anton Forsberg on Sunday against the Flames at 5 p.m. Matt Murray is on COVID-19 protocol so he won’t have a chance to face. to his former team for the first time since he was traded to Ottawa in October 2020.

Gustavsson was solid against the Kings with 34 saves and had a .944 save percentage. If he plays the Penguins, it would be the first time he has faced the franchise that drafted him since he was transferred to the Senators in February 2018 by center Derick Brassard and a pick.

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Gus The Bus made his NHL debut last season when the Senators were in the North Division. People have wanted to see what Gustavsson can do if he gets a chance to play consistently at this level, so this stretch should provide an answer to the 23-year-old’s position.

There’s no question that he kept the Senators in the game on Thursday, and both goals were the result of poor rebounds that Gustavsson could do nothing about.

“There is not a guy who can say that he did not give everything he had. Jonathan Quick was the difference and they didn’t even beat Gus, one got off a skid and the other got off a defender, so it’s unfortunate because I didn’t think our guys could play harder, “said Smith.

One area where senators need the most help is offense, especially in the power game. They still have top forwards Josh Norris, Tim Stuetzle, Brady Tkachuk and Drake Batherson, so they need to start taking their opportunities with the man advantage more consistently.

“Is it fair to talk about the losing streak when you have 13 players out and you are losing guys every day,” Smith said. “Right now, we’re just trying to put together a win and get the guys healthy.”

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Twitter: @sungarrioch