OTTAWA Adidas Chris Kunitz Jersey , Ontario (AP) ¡ª Jackets acquired Matt Duchene from the Ottawa Senators on Friday in exchange for a 2019 first-round draft pick and two top prospects, adding a veteran center as they make a push for a playoff spot.The 28-year-old Duchene, one of the top players available ahead of Monday¡¯s NHL trade deadline, was dealt for forwards Vitaly Abramov and Jonathan Davidsson. Columbus also got minor league defenseman Julius Bergman hours before the two teams played each other in Ottawa.Duchene did not record a point in 19:11 of ice time in his Columbus debut as the Blue Jackets beat the Senators 3-0.Columbus will send an additional 2020 first-round draft pick to Ottawa if it is able to sign Duchene to a contract extension. He will be an unrestricted free agent after the season, as will new Columbus teammates Artemi Panarin and Sergei Bobrovsky.¡°Matt Duchene is an elite player in the National Hockey League, and we are extremely excited to bring him to Columbus,¡± general manager Jarmo Kekalainen said. ¡°He is a tremendous skater, exceptional in the faceoff circle and a proven goal scorer and point producer in our league. We believe he is a tremendous fit for our team.¡±Duchene is the second-leading scorer on the Senators with 58 points (27 goals, 21 assists).The Blue Jackets moved into third place in the Metropolitan Division with Friday night¡¯s win, and Duchene said he was excited to have a shot at the playoffs.¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯m looking for and that¡¯s what gets me up every morning for sure Adidas Brandon Manning Jersey ,¡± Duchene said. ¡°I¡¯ve been fortunate to be on a lot of good international teams and win some big tournaments, but I¡¯ve never had a chance to play in the playoffs consistently.¡±The Blue Jackets badly needed a play-making center behind top-liner Pierre Luc-Dubois.Boone Jenner was pressed into action as the second-line center this season but has battled injuries. Coach John Tortorella has expressed frustration with the lack of production from centers Alexander Wennberg and Brandon Dubinsky.Wennberg finished the 2016-17 season with 59 points but his performance has dropped off. He and Dubinsky have combined for seven goals and 33 points this season.A two-time All-Star, Duchene has 228 goals and 307 assists in 704 career NHL games with Ottawa and the Colorado Avalanche, where he spent his first eight seasons after he was the third overall pick in the 2009 draft. This season, he has won 55 percent of his faceoffs and is averaging 19:14 of ice time.The Senators are at the bottom of the NHL standings and there have also been off-ice problems.Owner Eugene Melnyk threatened to move the club if ticket sales didn¡¯t improve a month after Duchene¡¯s arrival. Assistant GM Randy Lee was charged with harassing a 19-year-old male hotel shuttle driver at the pre-draft combine and eventually stepped down. The wife of Senators captain Erik Karlsson made cyberbullying accusations against the fiancee of winger Mike Hoffman, who was quickly traded ¡ª and then Karlsson himself was sent to San Jose at the start of training camp.More moves could be coming. Like Duchene, Mark Stone and Ryan Dzingel were held out of Thursday¡¯s game in New Jersey. Stone and Dzingel were scratched again Friday night.¡°When we acquired Matt in November of 2017, we had hoped his addition would drive us to another deep playoff run,¡± general manager Pierre Dorion said. ¡°Obviously that did not materialize; more than a year ago, we shifted our focus to a proper rebuild of the entire organization. Our desire was to have Matt be part of this and as such we approached him with a fair and comprehensive contract offer to remain a Senator for the long term.¡°As soon as it was determined that he did not want to be part of our rebuild Adidas Cam Ward Jersey , we shifted our focus to see what assets we could acquire in exchange for Matt that would help grow our pipeline of potential.¡±The 20-year-old Abramov, a winger, had 12 goals and 10 assists in 54 games for the AHL¡¯s Cleveland Monsters this season. The 21-year-old Davidsson has 10 goals and 10 assists in 35 games during the forward¡¯s fourth season with Djurgarden of the Swedish Hockey League.The three-team trade with Nashville that brought Duchene to Ottawa included the Senators sending their first-round pick to the Avalanche, and that will happen this year after the Senators took Brady Tkachuk fourth overall last June. Under Friday¡¯s trade, if Columbus misses the playoffs and wins one of the first three picks in the lottery, the Blue Jackets keep that pick and Ottawa will receive Columbus¡¯ 2020 first-round selection instead.It all means the Ottawa could end up missing out on Jack Hughes and Kaapo Kakko, the presumptive top picks in the 2019 draft. The struggling Pittsburgh Penguins might be getting some help Wednesday when they host the Dallas Stars at PPG Paints Arena, while the Stars will be dealing with a key absence.Pittsburgh center and team captain Sidney Crosby appears to be close to returning after missing three games because of an upper-body injury.Crosby was a full participant in practice Tuesday.Article continues below ...Dallas goaltender Ben Bishop is expected to miss about a week because of a lower-body injury that forced him out of Monday¡¯s 2-1 loss to the Rangers in New York.Crosby first rejoined his teammates on the ice for a morning skate Monday but did not take part in line rushes. Tuesday was a step forward.¡°It¡¯s good to get out there with the guys, compete and get back into doing those regular things,¡± he said. ¡°Just to be able to get contact and do regular drills Adidas Matt Calvert Jersey , that¡¯s a good sign. It feels good to be able to do those things.¡°We¡¯ll see how I feel.¡±Crosby said it was difficult sitting out, especially with Pittsburgh mired in a 1-7-2 slump and an uncharacteristic 3-5-2 at home.¡°You want to be with the group regardless of winning or losing. You want to be out there,¡± he said. ¡°But I think especially when you lose you just want to go and help any way you can. (I¡¯m) trying to stay positive and do my best to get back.¡±Crosby had two goals, five points in the three games before he got hurt. He ranks third on the team with 19 points and is tied for second with eight goals.¡°I just felt like my timing, deciding when to shoot, when to look to pass, just attacking, I feel like things like that started to come,¡± Crosby said. ¡°Hopefully, I can pick up there.¡±The Penguins¡¯ other star center Adidas Conor Timmins Jersey , Evgeni Malkin, sat out practice Tuesday because of what coach Mike Sullivan called a ¡°maintenance day,¡± but could be available to face Dallas. Center Matt Cullen has a lower-body injury that will keep him out ¡°longer term,¡± according to Sullivan.Bishop¡¯s injury ¡°is soft tissue. It¡¯s nothing serious,¡± Stars coach Jim Montgomery said.Anton Khudobin, who replaced Bishop against the Rangers, is expected to take over the No. 1 duties for the time being. The Stars are expected to recall Landon Bow to serve as the backup.¡°Nothing changes,¡± Khudobin said of moving up while Bishop is out.He took the loss Monday and is 2-2-1 in his five decisions over the past three weeks.¡°We have all the faith in (Khudobin), all the confidence in the world,¡± center Tyler Seguin said.The Stars have just three regulation losses over their past 11 games and the loss to New York ended a two-game winning streak Adidas Ian Cole Jersey , but Montgomery said his club¡¯s work ethic is lacking.¡°I want guys to win one-on-one battles, and I want people stopping on pucks, besides the puck pressure,¡± Montgomery said. ¡°The one thing I found inconsistent with our team has been our work ethic on a daily basis. That¡¯s practice and games.¡°It¡¯s something we¡¯ve talked a lot about with the leadership group. I don¡¯t think we understand yet what real hard work looks like.¡±