WARRENSPIECE: The new fold question for the senators, guessing Gambrell, and Lapierre comes home.

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Welcome to the ups and downs of life as a goalkeeper in the NHL.

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After his splendid two-game start against Toronto, Anton Forsberg left Monday’s meeting having allowed six goals on 19 shots in his 51:06 of action dating back to Saturday. He wasn’t sharp, but he was also the last line of defense when there wasn’t much of it in front of him.

On the other side is replacement Filip Gustavsson, who didn’t need to do much as the Senators rallied with three goals in the first 11 minutes of the second period to tie the game 4-4. In those 11 minutes, the Capitals had a shot on goal. After Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals woke up again, Gustavsson allowed three more before the game ended.

The question now is whether coach DJ Smith will go to Gustavsson or Forsberg on Friday in Dallas.

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THE MATT MURRAY WATCH: The deeper concern, of course, is the fact that number one goalkeeper Matt Murray keeps taking him on the chin or, in the latter case, the neck.

It’s hard not to remember Pascal (Bad Luck) Leclaire. Like Murray, Leclaire came to the Senate ranks with great success in the NHL behind his back. He had 24 wins and nine shutouts in 2007-08, sparking the 2009 trade that sent Antoine Vermette to Columbus.

But he couldn’t stay healthy. Leclaire’s legacy is about removing a deviated disc from his cheekbone while sitting on the bench and a variety of other major and minor injuries. He ended up playing in just 48 games over two seasons, with some standouts (he made 56 saves in a triple overtime playoff win over the Pittsburgh Penguins) along the way. After his two seasons with the Senators ended, he never recovered from a hip injury.

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No other Senators goalkeeper could be as unlucky with injuries, right?

Well, after looking strong against San Jose last Thursday and for 54 minutes against the Rangers on Saturday, Murray is out again due to the collision with Chris Kreider. It is the second time he has been on the disabled list this season and the fourth time since arriving in Ottawa to begin the 2020-21 season.

In his first two seasons with Pittsburgh, he reported seven injuries, including two concussions.

The good news, if there can be any good news in the injury of a number one goalkeeper, is that Murray is expected to travel with the Senators on the three-game road trip that begins Wednesday.

Until his return, it is up to Gustavsson or Forsberg to stop the slide.

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HARD START FOR BROWN : On TJ Oshie’s first goal, Josh Brown lost the puck on his own goal line. In Oshie’s second goal, he lost the puck on the Capitals blue line. Aside from the play of top defenders Thomas Chabot and Artem Zub, Smith didn’t have many positives … Mixed bag for Drake Batherson in the first. A beautiful eye goal to open the scoring and a beautiful finger drag from John Carlsson that left him sliding past the play in his own zone, leading him to the capitals’ fourth goal … Batherson added another beauty in the second, holding the disk forever before turning it over. Capitals goalkeeper Ilya Samsonov to tie the game 4-4. After the game, he called it “instinct.” When he scored in the third to complete the first hat trick of his career, he said his father, Norm, lost his hat.

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THE GAMBRELL GAME: Picking 25-year-old center Dylan Gambrell to a seventh-round pick makes sense. If you can plug a hole in the short term, fine. If you can become a long-term depth player, even better. Gambrell has a clear advantage in staying in Ottawa for the remainder of the season, as he owns a guaranteed $ 1.1 million contract.

WHERE DOES THAT SHAW LEAVE? When Shane Pinto returns from injury, potential fourth-line players in two-way deals like Logan Shaw ($ 725,000 when in the NHL, $ 375,000 when in the AHL) and Parker Kelly ($ 750,000 / $ 65,000) are most vulnerable to staying in Belleville. … Interesting use of line by DJ Smith. After Oshie scored both of his goals in the first period, the Senators coach responded immediately by throwing the fourth line from Shaw, Scott Sabourin and Zach Sanford. Both times, they changed the momentum, and Sabourin had point-blank opportunities with Samsonov … This note brought by the letter S.

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THE TABLES ROTATE : Seconds after Oshie received an interference penalty for knocking Tim Stuetzle down in the middle of the ice, Chris Tierney responded with a power play goal, some justice for the Senators after Saturday’s controversial penalty … No 2016 Senators picks remain in Ottawa or Belleville, but Gambrell (San Jose) Gustavsson (Pittsburgh) and Victor Mete (Montreal) were chosen by other teams in that draft … On Tuesday morning, Smith praised Alex Ovechkin, ” who continues to score at a violent pace. ” A few hours later, it was his violent indictment against Nick Paul that caused senators to cry out for a sanction. And then he beat Gustavsson on a getaway with his 736 ^th regular season goal, 158 behind Wayne Gretzky. Do that 737 goals, 157 behind Gretzky, after his second of the night in the third period.

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HOME SWEET HOME: A nice touch from Capitals coach Peter Laviolette put Gatineau native Hedrix Lapierre back in the lineup after hitting a healthy zero in the previous three. In what amounted to a home game for the 2020 Capitals first-round pick, he bought tickets for “15-20” members of his family and close friends. There were many more who came on their own. “A lot of people also texted me to say they were coming so that’s really cool and hopefully it will give me a boost,” he said before the record dropped.

Lapierre says that scoring in his NHL debut to star in the start of the season took some of the pressure off him. “It’s not just about goals and stuff, but to get one as fast as that, you can just play hockey, not thinking, ‘I have to get this one first,’ so I think it was really good. It was a really good first game, we got a great victory. “

Laviolette says his attitude, whether playing or practicing, has been outstanding.

“He’s an enthusiastic kid, he has a smile on his face all the time in practice.”

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