Ottawa coach Bryan Murray sounds as if he's willing to put a price on Colby Armstrong's head.

If Armstrong ever becomes available as a free agent, anyway.

Armstrong has been a major irritant for the Senators in the first three games of their opening-round playoff series against the Penguins -- he knocked Patrick Eaves out of Game 3 Sunday with a wicked check, skated into goalie Ray Emery at least once and has played the body aggressively since the series began -- but Murray said yesterday he not only accepts Armstrong's play, but approves of it.

"The only guys you ever get mad at on the other team are the guys who try real hard and play real competitively, and Colby plays real competitively for them," Murray said. "When we're out scouting and looking for players, those are the guys we're looking for."

Armstrong reiterated yesterday that he was only looking to "finish my check" when he apparently caught Eaves not looking and laid him out with a shoulder to the chin.

"I just try to play the game hard and finish my checks, like anyone else does," Armstrong said. "You don't want to see anyone get hurt, so hopefully he's all right, but I have to play hard, play in-your-face."

Although Eaves -- the younger brother of former Penguins prospect Ben Eaves, Armstrong's one-time teammate in Wilkes-Barre -- was taken off the ice on a stretcher and will not play in Game 4 at 7:08 p.m. today at Mellon Arena, he appears to have suffered no major injuries.

Eaves' place in the lineup tonight will be taken by Oleg Saprykin, a virtual nonfactor for the Senators since being acquired from Phoenix at the trade deadline.

The Penguins picked up rugged winger Georges Laraque from the Coyotes the same day, and it's hardly out of the question that he'll play tonight.

Penguins coach Michel Therrien made no secret that he was disappointed that Laraque didn't have more of an impact -- literally -- in Game 1, and sat him the next two games. He was noncommittal about whether Laraque will dress tonight.

If he does play, no one should be surprised if Ottawa swing man Christoph Schubert turns up in his crosshairs. The Penguins believe Schubert threw out his left leg while closing in on Evgeni Malkin in Game 1 and made potentially devastating knee-to-knee contact, and he drove defenseman Rob Scuderi head-first into the glass with a hit from behind late in Game 3.

"Certainly, I didn't think it was a real good hit," Scuderi said. "And after I saw it [on tape], I thought it was even worse than I initially thought. But fortunately, I'm not seriously damaged."

Scuderi declined to say whether he felt the hit was worthy of a major penalty -- or even a one-game suspension -- and said he believes Schubert simply is fulfilling the role in which he has been placed.

"I think he's just doing what they want him to do," Scuderi said. "That's going to be his job."

Turnover issues

Therrien cited the Penguins' penchant for turning over the puck as the major reason they've been unable to develop an offense that generates consistent pressure.

"That's our biggest thing right now," he said. "The Senators are doing a great job forcing us to turn the puck over. This is where we have to be smarter, where we have to learn about being disciplined with the decisions we're going to make with the puck.

"When there is time to make plays, we have to make plays. ... When there is no play to be made, accept being patient and play [the puck] behind the defensemen."

Slap shots

The Penguins have lost Game 4 in seven consecutive series, although the past five times were on the road. ... The Penguins did not practice yesterday, opting to hold a team meeting. Only players who did not participate in Game 3, along with Jarkko Ruutu and Ronald Petrovicky, worked out on the ice, although Ryan Malone and Sergei Gonchar made brief appearances.