Article content continued

Yup, no one line stayed the same.

“I was just trying out a few things,” Boucher said after the skate. “We’re on the road, so we don’t have the matchups we want so I’m just trying to balance things out so we get good matchups with the four lines.”

OK, matchups are one thing on the road, but the look the Senators showed Tuesday amounted to a wholesale change from what we’ve seen. It was no coincidence Pageau was between Smith and Stone because they had success last year down the stretch when Turris is out with an ankle injury.

“These guys did really well together, but it does serve the purpose I wanted. I’m trying to get some drive and some reliability on every line,” Boucher said. “I know these guys are comfortable together because they had success together.

“I think Tom Pyatt has been really good for us on both sides of the ice and he’s got some speed and some drive to play with Turris and Hoffman. The other line with Brass, I’m looking to get someone fast with him. Dzingel has been a first on puck guy and he’s done a very, very good job.

“We’re trying to get some reliability on every line and some speed.”

The reality is, though, without many new faces here this year there is plenty of familiarity, so it’s not like most of these players don’t know each other. Pyatt is new, but he has proved he’s capable of playing just about any role while Dzingel has looked like he has earned the chance to get more playing time.

These moves are being made to get offensive players like Hoffman, Turris, Stone, Brassard and Ryan going on a more consistent basis because without them, the Senators will have a difficult time winning.