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DALLAS — Senators centre Kyle Turris deserved a hand for playing through a broken finger for the past couple of weeks.

Yet with extra bodies around the club, the Senators opted to sit him down Wednesday against the Dallas Stars, hoping that time off will make him better in the long run.

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“It’s the same nagging stuff as before, so it needs time to heal,” Senators coach Guy Boucher said.

The injury appears to be more than a day-to-day issue.

When asked if Turris would also be out for Thursday’s game against the Arizona Coyotes, Boucher said, “highly likely, yes … maybe the whole trip.”

The three-game trek concludes Saturday in Denver against the Colorado Avalanche.

With Turris out, Boucher moved the puzzle pieces around against Dallas.

Zack Smith moved to centre from left wing and the Senators dressed 11 forwards and seven defencemen.

“It’s nice to go back to centre,” said Smith, who has played primarily as a left winger this season. “You get to handle the puck a little bit more and skate freely. You feel like you get a little more involved and it’s easier to get into the game when you’re at centre because it starts with the faceoff because you’re taking draws.”

Smith had, however, been taking some faceoffs while Turris was dealing with his hand injury.

While Boucher gave plenty of consideration to dressing Chris DiDomenico in his first NHL game, he ultimately went with just 11 forwards.

That meant the return of Fredrik Claesson as the seventh defenceman. He had been a healthy scratch for the previous seven games.

Smith had, however, been taking some faceoffs while Turris was dealing with the injury.

kwarren@postmedia.com

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