As expected, the official news on Thomas Chabot’s injury isn’t good.
Senators head coach Travis Green announced on Thursday that Chabot has a broken arm that required surgery, and he’ll be lost to the Senators for four to eight weeks.
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Chabot was injured on a cross-check by Rangers captain J.T. Miller on Monday night.
The play went unpenalized, and while some Sens fans hoped there might be some supplemental NHL discipline for Miller for breaking a guy’s arm with his stick, the league didn’t see it that way. In fairness, that kind of cross-check happens twenty times every night in every game. This one happened to strike a vulnerable spot at just the wrong time.
Chabot had his surgery today on “his forearm or something,” as Green described it, and if the 29-year-old defenseman misses four weeks, that takes us to April 26, or eight days into the first round of the playoffs. If he misses the max, eight weeks, then his return would be sometime during the Conference Final.
But while the Senators have just arrived in a playoff position, they’re a long way from clinching one. And with Chabot out for the rest of the regular season, the Sens could use some reinforcements to stay in this spot.
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So on Thursday morning, as you might expect, Green was peppered with media questions about his four recently injured defencemen.
Jake Sanderson?
“He’s skating, so that’s a good sign. He’ll come with us on the road trip, so that’s another good sign.”
Thomas Chabot”
“He’ll be out for a while… I’m not sure; four, six, eight (weeks).”
Dennis Gilbert?
“He’ll be out probably another three weeks… two to three weeks.”
Lassi Thomson?
“Lassi skated today. I don’t want to say day-to-day, but I don’t think he’ll be too long.”
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Green admitted that Thomson’s prognosis is better than originally expected. After Monday’s game in New York, Green originally said that both Chabot and Thomson would be “out for a while.”
Nick Jensen underwent knee surgery (meniscus) last week, and it sounds like his recovery timeline resembles Chabot’s.
For the time being, as the Senators get ready for another big game against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday night at CTC, they’ll line it up just as they did in Detroit, where Carter Yakemchuk and Jorian Donovan made their NHL debuts.
Sens projected defencemen vs Pittsburgh (listed by ice time in Detroit)
1. Tyler Kleven (28:11)
2. Jordan Spence (26:24)
3. Artem Zub (25:10)
4. Nikolas Matinpalo (19:57)
5. Carter Yakemchuk (12:46)
6. Jorian Donovan (4:42)
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After so many people left them for dead, the Senators clawing their way back into the playoff mix is an outstanding accomplishment. But staying there with a patchwork blue line will be just as impressive.
Steve Warne
The Hockey News
This article was first published at The Hockey News Ottawa. Check out more great Sens features from The Hockey News at the links below:
Road To The Playoffs: Wait… Are the Senators Really Doing This?
Injury-Ravaged Senators Bring Up Top Prospect For Battle With Red Wings
Senators Lose Two More Defensemen To Injury
Former Senator Mika Zibanejad Faces Ottawa In 1000th NHL Game
Five Years Later, Stützle Still Puzzled By Senators’ Decision To Let Amadio Get Away
‘I Just Needed to Get Some Anger Out’: Tkachuk Delivers Statement Game
Read the full article here
