Ottawa Senators forward Bobby Ryan will be away from the team while taking part in the NHL/NHLPA player assistance program, the league announced Wednesday.

"Bobby is an important member of the Ottawa Senators family and he has our full support as he tends to this matter," Senators general manager Pierre Dorion said Wednesday, according to Postmedia's Bruce Garrioch.

Ryan left practice in Detroit early Monday, and Ottawa head coach D.J. Smith told reporters the winger wasn't feeling well.

The 32-year-old did not play Tuesday night against the Red Wings.

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Tyson Barrie is fed up with losing after the Toronto Maple Leafs dropped their sixth straight contest Tuesday against the Vegas Golden Knights.

"We had a good meeting this morning and it's time to go now," the defenseman said following the 4-2 loss, according to TSN's Mark Masters. "It's time to man up.

"We have expectations on us and we're not living up to them and it's time to go. We competed hard tonight ... we battled back and had a chance to tie it. We have to keep going, a lot of hockey left."

Barrie, who was traded to Toronto in July after a career-best 59-point season with the Colorado Avalanche in 2018-19, has struggled to find his offensive touch with the Maple Leafs, managing just seven assists through 23 contests.

The 28-year-old has picked up a helper in two consecutive games, however, and posted a Corsi For rating of 60% or better over five consecutive games.

Tuesday's loss marks the longest losing streak of the Auston Matthews-Mike Babcock era. The team's longest skid last season lasted three games. Prior to the defeat against Vegas, the Maple Leafs hadn't lost six in a row since 2015-16, when they finished dead last in the NHL.

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Welcome to Puck Pursuit, a weekly NHL podcast hosted by John Matisz, theScore's national hockey writer.

Subscribe to the show on iTunes, SoundCloud, Stitcher, and Spotify.

Former NHLer and NBC analyst Eddie Olczyk joins this week's show to discuss a variety of topics, including:

• Getting traded in 1990 during his son's birth
• Being a Hockey Fights Cancer ambassador
• Connections to Chicago, identifying as a 'Hawk
• Feeling cathartic, deciding to write a book

...and more!

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The Vancouver Canucks didn't get anything going on Tuesday against the Dallas Stars during a 6-1 loss. Now captain Bo Horvat is looking to get his team back on track after just one win in Vancouver's last eight games.

"When you're down like that it really sinks in that this sucks," Horvat said postgame, according to The Athletic's Thomas Drance. "Down five goals in the third period with no chance of coming back, we'll remember that feeling and make sure it doesn't happen again."

After going 8-3-1 in October, the Canucks have started to slide while posting a 2-5-3 record in November.

"We're a type of team that we can't just have a couple of guys going, we need everybody to step up and everybody to play," Horvat added. "Right now we're kind of separated. Our timing isn't there, and we gotta figure that out and start playing the way we were in October."

The Canucks started a six-game road trip on Tuesday night. They visit the Nashville Predators next on Thursday.

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Tampa Bay Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov exited Tuesday's contest versus the St. Louis Blues after a monstrous hit from Brayden Schenn.

The hit came in the second period and Kucherov missed the remainder of the contest.

Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said postgame that the star winger's absence wasn't concussion-related, according to The Athletic's Joe Smith.

Kucherov, the reigning NHL MVP, has posted 18 points in 18 games this year.

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Losing took its toll on Nathan Beaulieu during his time in western New York.

The blue-liner spent parts of two campaigns with the Buffalo Sabres before being traded to the Winnipeg Jets last season. He sought a trade after his role diminished in Buffalo under former head coach Phil Housley.

"I wasn’t in a good situation, I guess you could say. I tried to get out of there multiple times and it just didn’t happen," Beaulieu told The Athletic's Ken Wiebe. "I played on some good teams in Montreal, we made the playoffs every year except for one. Then you go to the complete polar opposite for two years in a row and it tests your will and your love for the game, for sure.

"You heard Ryan O’Reilly say it and I know (the Sabres) didn’t like what he said, but he couldn’t have put it better. I could say the exact same thing."

After the 2017-18 season and before he was traded from the Sabres to the St. Louis Blues, O'Reilly said he "lost the love of the game multiple times."

"You really question a lot of things," Beaulieu continued. "I know we have such an amazing life, but if you don’t enjoy it, it’s not all it’s (cracked) up to be because it gets tough and there are some dark days.

"All the money (in the world) couldn’t save it. Mentally, it was so degrading."

O'Reilly and Beaulieu aren't the only ex-Sabres players to criticize the team. Chicago Blackhawks goalie Robin Lehner, who spent three seasons with the Sabres, called Buffalo an "atmosphere of negativity" in March.

The Sabres finished last in 2017-18, and after a hot start in 2018-19, they still posted the league's fifth-worst record. They haven't made the playoffs since 2010-11.

In an NHL player poll that ESPN conducted earlier this month, 34% of the 50 players said Buffalo is the road city they dread visiting the most, second only to Winnipeg at 42%.

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