Unacceptable move by Sens head coach D.J. Smith lands him in trouble!

The last few games have been rough on the Ottawa Senators, who were off to a decent start this season before losing 6-4 last night at the hands of the Buffalo Sabres, dropping to 3-3-0 record.

While there is tons of criticisms on the Sens’ performance, head coach D.J. Smith is getting most of the heat on Wednesday as it was noted on social media that he pulled an unacceptable move on his goalie Anton Forsberg on Tuesday.

At the start of the third period, while Ottawa is trailing behind, Forsberg is about to start the frame despite allowing five goals on 18 shots. He is standing in his crease ready for the action to begin. That’s until his defenseman Travis Hamonic skates over to the goalie and talks with him. Fans quickly realized that it was the blue liner who informed Forsberg he was being given the hook and was not playing anymore.

Forsberg was then replaced by Joonas Korpisalo before the puck drop for the last period…

Smith should have been the one telling Forsberg he would not start the third in the dressing room, before jumping on the ice only to be humiliated and pulled out by his teammate!

How does that happen? It’s easy to blame Smith, but it’s also hard not to disagree that it is his responsibility to inform the players on changes… Did Smith make the move intentionally or did he ask another coach to inform him and that person forget…. It is hard to know what really happened, but I know it is quite embarrassing for Forsberg and the Senators.

On Wednesday, "Fire DJ" was trending on X and former NHL goalie Mike McKenna quickly called the move “an unforgivable miscommunication" by the Senators. 

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