Tuesday was a date circled on several calendars following the NHL trade deadline on March 7.

After the Senators' unexpected and foundation-shaking move that sent the popular Josh Norris with Jacob Bernard-Docker to the division-rival Buffalo Sabres for Dylan Cozens, Dennis Gilbert and a 2026 second-round pick, all those involved wanted nothing more than to prove their respective organizations wrong.

In the week leading up to Tuesday night's tilt, it looked like there would be an outside chance that Norris would be ready to return to the lineup. The centre received treatment and travelled with the Sabres during their four-game road trip but ultimately did not play.

To his disappointment, he would not return against the Senators. The belief is that it is a reaggravation of the injury that kept him out of the Senators' lineup for six games, bookending the Four Nations Faceoff tournament.

"Yeah, I thought potentially, I was going to get out there," Norris explained while meeting the entirety of the Buffalo media for the first time since the trade. "But, (the injury) is something I was dealing with throughout the year and re-aggravated it. So, we're just being smart about it."

Norris' progression is day-by-day, but after videos of his arrival at the rink in Sunrise, Florida, went viral for his melancholic vibes. It is almost like getting traded in the middle of a playoff push when you have: 1) recovered from three shoulder surgeries; 2) the rebuilding team you have spent your professional career with is on the verge of the postseason; and 3) now have to leave all your friends, colleagues, and teammates; can create a factory of sadness.

The shock was real.

"I was kind of in shock when it happened, and that is what it is," Norris explained. "It's a busy time of the year. It just kind of happened, and it is what it is.

"I enjoyed my time there. I have a lot of great memories, and I started my career there and made a lot of really good friends. It's part of the business and obviously, there's a team that wanted me. A team that traded a really good player for me, and I'm really happy to be here, and I'll just do my best."

Weeks later, it is clear that the centre has had time to adjust to a new organization and city. Unfortunately for Norris, it does not sound like he will be ready to play soon.

The two others involved in the deal could not contain their excitement for Tuesday night's game.

Although they would not admit the amount, you could tell by the smirks on Dylan Cozens' and Jacob Bernard-Docker's faces that money was on the board.

Buffalo represented a fresh opportunity for the defenceman who got squeezed out of playing time by Nick Matinpalo and Travis Hamonic.

"It was definitely tough being out of the lineup as much as I was," Bernard-Docker admitted. "But, through all that, you just try to do what you can in the gym, do what you can on the ice, and keep improving every day. That's all I could do, and I'm really excited to be playing here."

The wrinkle with Bernard-Docker is that he got lost on the depth chart on the Senators' right side. Blame opportunity. Blame untimely injuries that took him out of the lineup when opportunities presented themselves.

Interestingly, whether looking at his statistics or the performances of the alternatives who have logged minutes with Tyler Kleven, Bernard-Docker's numbers outperform Matinpalo and Hamonic.

Evolving-Hockey's proprietary 'wins above replacement' value (WAR) measured him as being the better player. Their 'Total Offence' (OFF) and 'Total Defence' (DEF) metrics take a player's offensive and defensive contributions and combine them into single metrics. These metrics rate Bernard-Docker as being the better performer this season.

• Bernard-Docker: 3.3 OFF, 0.9 DEF, 0.7 WAR
• Matinpalo: -0.9 OFF, 0.6 DEF, -0.1 WAR
• Hamonic: -10 OFF, -2.7 DEF, -1.9 WAR

With a league-average player registering a value of zero, these numbers simply portray Matinpalo as league-average, Bernard-Docker slightly above league average, while Hamonic rates as the least valuable defenceman in the league this season.

The underlying numbers are interesting when looking at Kleven's pairings this season.

• Kleven-Hamonic: 186.4 TOI, 45.33 CF%, 41.51 SF%, 23.32 GF%, 50.0 xGF%
• Kleven-Matinpalo: 248.5 TOI, 50.88 CF%, 49.76 SF%, 47.23 GF%, 43.94 xGF%
• Kleven-Bernard-Docker: 259.9, 48.73, CF% 49.89 SF%, 55.94 GF%, 42.7 xGF%

In several instances this season, the organization has referenced expected goal data when explaining the team's performance. It stands to reason that they may emphasize that metric when determining who to partner with Kleven.

Evolving-Hockey's model rates the Kleven/Hamonic pairing as having the best expected goals for percentage even though the Senators are predominantly outshot when this pairing is on the ice. Their expected goal metric is interesting because the rate of shots and shots on goal that the Senators give up while this pairing is on the ice is significantly higher.

What works against Bernard-Docker is that he has no distinguishable trait. He is not as big and rangy as Matinpalo, nor does it look like he exhibits as much effort as Hamonic does when he plays. Simply put, when Bernard-Docker is at his best, you do not notice him on the ice.

Bernard-Docker admitted that he did not pay attention to the numbers or social media, but he was grateful for the support he received while playing here.

"I don't have many social media platforms like Twitter," stated Bernard-Docker. "I always knew that a lot of the fans were awesome in Ottawa. They always supported me, and I'll always be thankful for that.

"A lot of them reached out when I got traded. So, it was definitely nice, but I'm not much aware of the whole (analytics) stuff, and when I go out there, I'm just trying to focus on helping my team win. I could really care less about any stats."

For Bernard-Docker, the script could not have gone better. With seven minutes in the second period, he received a low-to-high pass from Tyson Kozak and wired a shot through traffic on the inside of the right post past Anton Forsberg. His goal notched the game at two.

Accentuating Bernard-Docker's night was the Senators' third defensive pairing struggled mightily and were on the ice for Bernard-Docker's game-tying goal and Tage Thompson's go-ahead third goal in the third period.

Since arriving in the nation's capital, Dylan Cozens has enjoyed a torrid start to his Senators career. In his first nine games, the centre has scored three goals and added five assists while providing some physicality in the middle of the lineup.

Although he picked up a point on the game's opening power play goal by Brady Tkachuk, it was easy to sense how much this game's outcome meant for the young centre.

"I just really wanted to win that game," Cozens stated deflatingly. "I think we had it at the start. We were in control, and we just let them back in it. We should have just kept pushing."

The anger and frustration from his teammates were on full display following the loss, but the emotion from Cozens was just as palpable. He sorely wanted to leave the Queen City with two points.

With the Canadiens' loss to the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday night, this game was a lost opportunity to create more separation from their division rival.

From a glass-half-full perspective, however, the Senators should arrive in the Motor City with a chip on their shoulder. Having lost three of their last four games, there will be pressure on the team to mitigate these lulls as the postseason rapidly approaches.

By Graeme Nichols
The Hockey News Ottawa

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