Matt Duchene's inauguration with the Ottawa Senators hasn't gone quite as smoothly as he had likely hoped.

Since being acquired by the Senators, as the catalyst of a three-way trade with the Colorado Avalanche and Nashville Predators, Duchene's offense has dried up. The 26-year-old has gone pointless with a minus-8 rating in six games - a fact that's been hard to stomach for some Sens fans, especially with Kyle Turris having tallied five points and adding a shootout-winner in six games with the Predators.

All that aside, Duchene still appears to be settling in nicely with his new club - despite the offense - and as far as the play-by-play voice for the Senators on TSN 1200, Dean Brown, is concerned, it's too early to be pushing the panic button.

"He has played well actually, that's the irony," Brown told theScore. "He's actually played very well and had some good chances and just has been unlucky, certainly more than anything else. If you were playing bad and not getting any chances and not really doing the things you need to do, people would probably be more concerned and maybe upset. That really isn't the case, he's played very well since he's been here."

The underlying numbers are quite intriguing. Through his first six games with the Senators, Duchene has thrown 23 shots at the opposition, an average of just under four per game and the same number he put up in 14 games with the Avalanche prior to the trade.

Meanwhile, Duchene's played largely on a line with Bobby Ryan and Ryan Dzingel, and the trio are rocking a Corsi For of 60.78 at 5-on-5. However, the three have just one goal to show for their possession efforts. So is it time for a rejigging of the lines?

"Maybe yes, maybe no. The thing that - well not last night's game in Washington - but the game in New York, Guy Boucher tried 25 different line combinations," said Brown. "So, I suppose you could never say no, but again it’s not like he's played badly and it's not like he hasn't gotten chances with whoever he's played with. It's just one of those things that when it snaps it will snap. I think sometimes in situations people look for immediate answers to their problems and sometimes the solution isn't immediate."

(Photo courtesy: Getty Images)

Of course, as a team, the Senators are playing some of their worst hockey of the season. After rifling off two wins in Stockholm against the Avalanche in Duchene's first two games, Ottawa has gone 0-3-1 in its last four, scoring just five goals while conceding 14.

In fact, the team has averaged just 26.25 shots per game, which means Duchene has actually put up a respectable 12.3 percent of the team's shots over the last four games, and the quality has been there as well.

In his six games with the club, Duchene is averaging 11.95 scoring chances per 60 minutes at 5-on-5, the highest such total on the Senators next to Nick Paul - who has played in only three games - and 5.4 more than Duchene was averaging with the Avalanche.

And while the chances in the offensive end appear to be there, fans and Guy Boucher can rest easy knowing Duchene has been playing strong on the opposite side of the puck as well.

"I think knowing he's on a team where that is an important thing he's put extra emphasis on that," said Brown. "He is very rarely out of position. He's not a guys who's out waiting at center ice banging his stick waiting for a breakaway pass. He's in his own zone, the forwards all leave together, and he's been very responsible."

The team's new center is probably gripping his stick a little tighter these days as both he and the club are becoming more and more desperate for a goal, but he's getting too many chances to continue failing. Things are bound to start going his way.

"I don't know if it's time for them to be concerned, if they think that he is that terrible of a player and not worth keeping then I guess that would make them concerned," said Brown. "I think he's kind of the same as this team's been right now, he's a good player that's going through a tough stretch. They're a good team that's going through a bad stretch. Every team goes through slumps and they're going through one right now. He's got a personal one going, but I'm not sure fans should be all that concerned about."

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The Calgary Flames reportedly placed Eddie Lack on waivers Thursday, less than five months after he was acquired from the Carolina Hurricanes.

The veteran netminder had struggled with the Flames, owning a 5.29 goals-against average and a save percentage of .813, so it's understandable why Calgary chose to move on.

The Flames are one of five teams who could use better play from their No. 2 between the pipes:

Calgary Flames

Starter Mike Smith has been a revelation this season, putting on a goaltending clinic not seen in Calgary since the days of Miikka Kiprusoff. The first-year Flame has posted a .925 save rate through 19 games and has been consistently reliable for coach Glen Gulutzan.

Related - Help wanted: The Flames' backup goalie situation is untenable

But Calgary could run into trouble down the road by asking too much from a 35-year-old netminder - Smith is on pace to play 74 games - with a history of groin injuries. A reliable backup would help, but for now the team is likely to recall AHL farmhand Jon Gillies should Lack clear waivers.

Edmonton Oilers

Much like their Alberta rival, the Oilers have entrusted starter Cam Talbot with big minutes. The 30-year-old took on 73 games last year and is on pace to surpass that number this season. That workload deviates from the offseason plan, as coach Todd McLellan noted Talbot could benefit from fewer minutes.

The problem has been the performance of No. 2 goalie Laurent Brossoit, whose play over the past two years has given little reason for McLellan to regularly call upon him. Brossoit has posted a subpar .865 save percentage through five appearances this season.

Pittsburgh Penguins

Plans have rapidly changed in Pittsburgh, where general manager Jim Rutherford initially thought offseason pickup Antti Niemi could handle 30-to-40 games and lighten the workload for young netminder Matt Murray.

However, Pittsburgh waived Niemi after three shoddy performances and turned to minor-league keepers Casey DeSmith and Tristan Jarry. Both have potential but aren't yet NHL-ready, meaning Rutherford must head back to the drawing board in search of a consistent backup.

New York Rangers

It was difficult to understand New York's rationale in signing Ondrej Pavelec, who struggled last year with the Winnipeg Jets and wasn't much better after being demoted to the minors. The Rangers even paid Pavelec more than their former backup, Antti Raanta, who was dealt to Arizona in the offseason.

The results haven't been good. Through five showings on Broadway, Pavelec owns an .886 save percentage - ever-so-slightly worse than his numbers last year with the Jets. That's left 35-year-old starter Henrik Lundqvist to maintain a busy schedule, even though the veteran 'keeper could benefit from more nights on the bench.

Tampa Bay Lightning

Andrei Vasilevskiy, all of 23 years old, has proven capable of holding down the crease, but the high-flying Lightning could be one injury away from disaster.

Backup Peter Budaj, who filled in well for the sidelined Jonathan Quick last season in Los Angeles, hasn't enjoyed as much success since shifting to Tampa Bay via trade in February. The veteran netminder has allowed 10 goals in three outings this season, and over two campaigns with the Lightning his save rate sits below .900. Beefing up Tampa's backup goaltending prior to this season's trade deadline would be a wise move by GM Steve Yzerman.

(Photos courtesy: Getty Images)

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Duncan Keith still has plenty of tread on his tires.

The Chicago Blackhawks defenseman - who's suited up for more than 1,000 combined regular-season and playoff contests - has claimed three Stanley Cups, a pair of Norris Trophies, and a Conn Smythe as playoff MVP during his decorated career.

Still, the 34-year-old has no plans to hang up his skates any time soon.

"I want to play until I'm 45. Honestly," Keith told Mark Lazerus of the Chicago Sun-Times. "Eleven more years. I feel like I'm 22 right now. I do. I'm 34, and I feel great. I feel better than I did at times when I was 27, 28."

Keith hasn't slowed down at all this season, as he leads all Blackhawks blue-liners with 11 points while averaging more than 25 minutes of ice time per night.

"You look at (Nicklas) Lidstrom and (Chris) Pronger, those guys weren't always skating 100 miles an hour every shift," Keith added. "It was being smart and being in good position and skating hard when you had to."

Should Keith get his wish and still be taking shifts into his mid-40s, a few more contracts will likely need to follow. The veteran defender is currently signed through the 2022-23 season, according to CapFriendly.

This season, there are only three players aged 40 or older across the league: Boston's Zdeno Chara (40), Minnesota's Matt Cullen (41), and Calgary's Jaromir Jagr (45).

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The Los Angeles Kings have acquired forward Torrey Mitchell from the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for a conditional draft pick in 2018, it was announced Thursday.

Should the Kings qualify for next year's postseason, the Canadiens will instead receive their own 2018 fourth-round pick that was originally exchanged to the Kings for forward Dwight King at last year's trade deadline.

Mitchell, 32, has been held pointless in 11 games with the Canadiens this season. He tallied 17 points in 78 games with Montreal last year.

The Canadiens originally acquired Mitchell from the Buffalo Sabres in 2015.

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The Los Angeles Kings have acquired forward Torrey Mitchell from the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for a conditional draft pick in 2018, it was announced Thursday.

Should the Kings qualify for next year's postseason, the Canadiens will instead receive their own 2018 fourth-round pick that was originally exchanged to the Kings for forward Dwight King at last year's trade deadline.

Mitchell, 32, has been held pointless in 11 games with the Canadiens this season. He tallied 17 points in 78 games with Montreal last year.

The Canadiens originally acquired Mitchell from the Buffalo Sabres in 2015.

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Connor McDavid is looking a little trimmer these days.

The Edmonton Oilers captain is down at least 5 lbs, and maybe as many as 10, following a recent two-week battle with the flu, according to TSN's Darren Dreger.

McDavid typically clocks in at 6-foot-1 and 192 lbs, according to the team's official site.

"He's been sick for a week to 10 days now," Oilers coach Todd McLellan told Dreger. "He's starting to feel better, but we'll monitor his practice time."

While the illness may have McDavid feeling under the weather while away from the rink, it's seemingly had little impact on his on-ice performance, as the superstar forward has pocketed nine points in his past five outings.

McDavid is currently running a three-game point streak, in which he has collected a goal and five assists. He'll have the chance to add to that total Friday when the Oilers take on the Buffalo Sabres.

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Nazem Kadri wants to make it clear that he didn't mean to hit the penalty-box attendant with the butt end of his stick Wednesday night.

"I feel terrible about it," the Toronto Maple Leafs forward told reporters on Thursday, via TSN. "It's an emotional game and I kind of got out of control. I didn't even realize I hit him until I saw the replay afterward. I must have apologized to him a thousand times in the penalty box... There's no excuse for it. It won't happen again."

The incident took place late in Wednesday's shootout loss to the Florida Panthers, when Kadri couldn't control his frustration after taking a cross-checking penalty in the final minute of regulation time.

"It was a total accident," he added. "I didn't mean to hit him at all. That's the last thing I was thinking about. I was just trying to take out my frustrations on a water bottle. I was super apologetic. I feel bad and it's never going to happen again."

NHL director of hockey operations Colin Campbell and his department took "a good look" at the incident Wednesday night, but will likely issue nothing more than a warning, TSN's Darren Dreger reports.

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The Edmonton Oilers and Buffalo Sabres have both underachieved this season, but neither Connor McDavid nor Jack Eichel should be singled out for his club's poor showing out of the gate.

The top two picks from the 2015 draft will meet Friday night for the third time in their young NHL careers, as their clubs look to change the narratives that developed in the first quarter of the 2017-18 campaign.

Eichel is used to the Sabres losing by now, and he's vocalized his displeasure with it repeatedly, but this is new territory for McDavid - at least when the Oilers captain has been healthy.

Edmonton expected to take another step forward this season, and many pegged the Oilers as locks to make the Stanley Cup Final, but they sit second-last in the paltry Pacific Division.

Despite their poor start, McDavid hasn't missed a beat. He's tied for fifth in the NHL in assists (18), ranks sixth in points (28), and has scored 10 goals in 22 games. While Edmonton's managed only eight wins in that span, he hasn't experienced any significant slumps, and he's been particularly effective recently, with nine points in his last five contests.

His performance checks out from an analytics perspective, too. McDavid has driven possession with an even-strength Corsi For percentage of 56.29 and a Relative Corsi For mark of 3.31 percent. While other stars are generating more scoring opportunities, he's created a respectable 10.64 individual scoring chances per 60 minutes.

Though Eichel hasn't been as good, his team has also been much worse. The Sabres have lost seven consecutive games, sit in the basement of the Atlantic Division, and have a better record than only one other NHL club - the lowly Arizona Coyotes.

Buffalo wasn't expecting to make a significant leap in 2017-18, but a new general manager, a new head coach, a reinforced defensive corps, and a healthy Eichel to start the campaign had the Sabres predicting some improvement.

That hasn't happened from a club perspective, but Eichel has arguably done his part, with 18 points in 22 games.

One criticism of the 21-year-old's play has been that he hasn't scored enough. That's fair, since he only has six goals, but he hasn't been shooting as much this fall (69 shots on goal, or 3.13 per game) as he did last season, when he averaged more than four shots on goal in 61 contests.

Eichel lit the lamp Wednesday night in a loss to the Minnesota Wild, but he clearly can't do it all himself. As a team, the Sabres rank 30th in goals for, with a mere 2.36 per game.

Neither young star has enough help from his supporting cast, and that's the real problem. While Eichel could be scoring a bit more, neither player should be the scapegoat for his team's difficult start.

Both players are still appointment viewing every night they take the ice, and even more so when they face each other. Friday's matchup gives the two franchise cornerstones another chance to show it, and should serve as another reminder that they're not to blame.

(Analytics courtesy: Corsica Hockey and Natural Stat Trick)

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When an offense is scuffling - at almost any level - the first thing a coach will do to try and kickstart his group is shake up the forward lines.

Even though the Columbus Blue Jackets had won three straight games (albeit scoring only six goals), head coach John Tortorella opted to put 19-year-old Pierre-Luc Dubois between Artemi Panarin and Josh Anderson for Monday's game in Buffalo. Given that the plan was to bring the young Dubois along slowly on the wing to start his career rather than his natural position of center, it was a pretty surprising development.

Nonetheless, the trio has sported an impressive 60.38 Corsi For and 61.83 Expected Goals For percentage while playing together. Despite the line's success, Tortorella couldn't offer an explanation as to why they've clicked.

"I don't know (why it's working)," Tortorella told The Athletic's Aaron Portzline. "I don't know. If I thought it was gonna work, I would have tried it a lot earlier, before three other guys. You just never know."

Prior to putting Dubois alongside Panarin, the latter had spent most of the season with Alexander Wennberg or Nick Foligno as his center.

When asked about the science of line structuring as a whole, Tortorella, as always, wasn't shy about sharing his opinion.

"It's a bunch of bullshit," he said. "I get a kick out of us, as coaches, we talk about this, that and the other thing. 'This is what I'm looking for with that line.' It's a bunch of bullshit. We try things, and if it works, it works.

"We talked in the summer, how we were going to handle (Dubois). Is it too much for him at center, too much responsibility? Let's bring him in slowly as a wing. There you go … coaching. Half the time we don't even know what we're doing until something works. It wasn't working with Nick. I didn't like it with Wenny. Luc was finding his game while we were trying different things. The other night I just said, 'Let’s try 'em.' And there you go."

Tortorella is basically admitting that finding the right line combinations is like throwing a dart at a dartboard and hoping you hit the bulls-eye.

With five wins in a row and a spot atop the Metro Division standings, Tortorella surely doesn't care how his lines fall together, as long as his club keeps winning.

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