Golden Edge mailbag: On Carpenter, Stone and ex-Knight Lindberg

The Knights have won four straight games since acquiring winger Mark Stone from the Ottawa Senators, but the team has undergone other subtle changes as well. Let’s get to it:

“It was like a punch in the gut, when I read the account of how Oscar Lindberg was told of being traded.” — Kitty Smith (email)

Reports emerged that Lindberg was sent to Ottawa as part of the Stone trade when he was still on the ice practicing Feb. 25. He didn’t know what was happening until he went to the locker room and center William Karlsson, who learned of the deal via television, told him.

Knights coach Gerard Gallant admitted that wasn’t how the Knights wanted to handle things, but the craziness of the NHL’s trade deadline made things difficult.

“That’s what happens,” Gallant said. “In today’s day and age people find out before they should find out. You’re still up there working (on the trade) upstairs. … It’s sad it has to happen like that.”

The trade at least gives Lindberg, a pending unrestricted free agent, a chance to prove himself heading into the offseason. He’s played in every Senators game since the trade and has two goals.

“It’s one of those ones where you definitely want to see him here, but at the same time, he could be getting a really good opportunity to play some good hockey there and earn a contract,” winger Max Pacioretty said. “He’s a guy that’s really well-liked and well-respected in this room and a guy that we’ll miss a lot.”

“Is there anything (Ryan Carpenter) can’t do? No wonder the NHL coach of the year (in Gallant) loves him.” —@MtbHi (Twitter)

Well, by his own admission, Carpenter doesn’t score a lot.

But the 28-year-old forward has a career-high 15 points this season and has played well in the past four games after returning from an upper-body injury. He moved to the fourth line for the Knights’ March 1 game against the Anaheim Ducks and since then he has a goal, an assist and a plus-2 rating in two games.

“I try to play the same game every time, but those guys they just work so hard and we talk a lot on the bench about where we are going to try and be,” Carpenter said. “Ryan Reaves, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare both create a lot of turnovers on the forecheck and create a lot of second effort chances, so it is nice playing with guys that work really hard.”

“With the addition of Stone, it’s almost like the other Knights players said ‘Hey, you think this guy is some big scorer? We’ll show you scoring!’ Now everyone but Stone is scoring!” — Kaynella (email)

This isn’t that far off.

Eleven Knights players have scored a goal since the Stone trade. Stone is one of 11 players on the team with an assist in that span.

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Contact Ben Gotz at bgotz@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BenSGotz on Twitter.