Wednesday, 11 January 2012 13:09

Written by Seth Rorabaugh

Since he left the Penguins as a free agent in 2010, two things were usually consistent for Sergei Gonchar anytime he returned to Pittsburgh. He was on a struggling Senators team. And he was usually greeted warmly.

Both of those aspects were reversed last night as the Senators won their ninth out of 12th game with 5-1 drubbing of the Penguins. Additionally, every time Gonchar touched the puck after the midway point of the second period, Gonchar was booed as a result of a late hit he gave to former teammate Evgeni Malkin.

After last night's game, Gonchar talked about the hit, the boos and the Penguins' rash of injuries:

What happened on the hit?

“It’s a part of the game. I didn’t see he had scored already. I thought there was a chance that if I pushed him a bit, he might miss the puck. I probably hit him a littler harder than I expected. In the middle of the battle, you’re just hoping to not allow him to score."

You weren't trying to injury him?

"Obviously yeah. My own intentions were to hope that he doesn’t get that rebound. I thought that he didn’t score on the first (shot) and he was going for the second rebound. I was hoping if I push him a little bit, he was going to miss the net."

On the boos:

"There are fans supporting the team and obviously, Evgeni is the biggest guy for them right now and they want to make sure nothing happens to him. I’m sure they got frustrated because it seems like he’s the only guy not injured."

You've seen this team successfully deal with injuries before. Does it seem like it's starting to get to them?

"I think they never had as much. It seems like a lot of players. I never thought they had so many players injured over the years. It’s obiviously tough. I would agree with you, yes."

How much does this team miss Kris Letang (right)?

“Him, (Staal), Martin didn’t play. They’re missing a lot of guys. They  miss the guys. You can not replace a guy like Sidney. You can not replace a guy like Letang. They miss them big time.”

"Yeah, obviously, when you have (Staal) and (Crosby) playing, it’s a good three centermen. Now, it’s only Evgeni and that’s obviously tougher for him and a little bit easier for opponents."

 (Photos: Gonchar-Ronald Martinez/Getty Images; Gonchar and Letang-Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)