Player safety under fire as Ottawa Senators confirm worst-case development: They are without Sanderson now
Photo credit: Keito Newman-Imagn Images
Jake Sanderson is out with a concussion, and Travis Green just lost Ottawa's most important defenceman before Game 4.
That changes the entire Ottawa bench.
Sanderson had been carrying a massive playoff workload through 3 games, logging 27:57 a night with 2 assists.
He was the one defenseman Green could lean on in every situation.
Now he's gone after Taylor Hall's hit in Thursday night's 2-1 loss, and Ottawa's margin is almost gone.
The Senators already trail the series 3-0.
Artem Zub is also out, which makes this more than one injury update.
It turns Ottawa's top pair into a full-blown scramble on the eve of an elimination game.
That's the part Green can't dress up.
Sanderson and Zub were supposed to settle the hard minutes, take the tough matchups, and keep Ottawa from chasing the game off the rush.
Senators lose Jake Sanderson to concussion in worst possible moment
Sanderson finished the regular season with 54 points in 67 games, tops among Senators defencemen.
Those aren't empty numbers either.
He drives exits, calms breakouts, and keeps their power play from getting stuck on the perimeter.
Without him, Thomas Chabot gets pushed into even more, and every pair below that gets exposed a little faster.
In a playoff series this tight, one missing puck-mover can wreck your whole structure.
The clip told the story before the diagnosis did.
Hall came across, Sanderson absorbed contact high, and Ottawa's bench knew right away it wasn't a routine playoff bump.
You could see the ripple after that.
Ottawa's defence looked patched together, its breakouts got heavier, and the group spent too much time defending instead of getting north clean.
That's why this confirmation lands so hard now.
A concussion is not a day-to-day tweak, and there's no clean replacement for what Sanderson handles at even strength and on special teams.
Ottawa can still scrap its way through a night, especially at home.
Linus Ullmark has given them a chance with a .933 save percentage through 3 playoff starts.
But this is the kind of injury that shifts a series fast.
Green doesn't just need a lineup fix for Game 4.
He needs his entire blue line to survive without the player who held it together.
Also read on Blade of steel :
One Montreal Canadien is already on Corey Perry’s radar for game 3 Friday
One Montreal Canadien is already on Corey Perry’s radar for game 3 Friday