Karlsson likely to sit against Red Wings
Sens ‘still in a pretty good spot,’ GM Dorion says
DETROIT • Make no mistake, captain Erik Karlsson wants to come back and right the ship to help the Ottawa Senators get to the playoffs.
And, if Karlsson makes a miracle recovery overnight he will return, but Ottawa GM Pierre Dorion certainly doesn’t expect to see the club’s top player — and arguably the best defenceman in the world — Monday night against the Detroit Red Wings in the club’s final visit to the Joe Louis Arena.
Karlsson’s i njury i sn’ t considered serious, but it’s likely he’ ll miss his thirdstraight game against the Wings. He returned to Ottawa on Friday to get further treatment and there was a hope on the weekend he might be able to fly to Detroit to suit up for this game if t he f oot healed quickly enough.
“At this point in time, I can’t see ( Karlsson joining them Monday),” Dorion said Sunday afternoon. “I don’t want to mislead you on anything. I’ ll just say day-to-day and we’ll go from there.”
If it wasn’t challenging e nough without Karlsson and defenceman Marc Methot ( lacerated finger), it got a whole lot tougher after the club lost defenceman Cody Ceci to what appeared to be a leg injury in the second period of the loss to the Jets.
With the blue line as thin as it has ever been, the Senators recalled Ben Harpur from their AHL affiliate in Binghamton and he’ ll suit up against the Wings.
“Ben will play ( Monday). Cody will be out for a while,” said Dorion
Despite all t he i njuries, Dorion said everybody needs to keep the faith.
“Overall, we’re still in a pretty good spot,” Dorion said. “We were going to hit a bump at some point in time in the year and unfortunately this bump has come when we’ve seen injuries — we’ve lost our top three defencemen.
“But this team has faced a lot of adversity all year. I think both the coach ( Guy) Boucher and I have a lot of faith in this group. I know we’ll pull through. There’s not going to be a season where we’re not going to face a bump on the road and it’s at an unfortunate time but I think it gets us ( in) playoff mode earlier than a lot of other teams.”
With only five games left, the Senators still have a little bit of breathing space between t hem and t he Tampa Bay Lightning, but Ottawa needs to find a way to get two points in the first game of this back- to- back series against the Wings or the noise about missing the playoffs completely will only become louder.
At this juncture, the Senators, who were once sitting quite comfortably in a playoff spot, find themselves in a battle for playoff positions with the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Boston Bruins. They do control their own destiny as long as they win.
“We were expected to be surrounded the whole year,” winger Mark Stone said after the 4-2 loss in Winnipeg on Saturday. “Coming into the year there was no guarantee that anybody in the league was going to make the playoffs.
“We’re happy where we are, we’re happy with where we’re at in the standings and obviously we want to have a little bit more separation in the standings but we’re comfortable in these tight games, these close games and most of us have played in pressure games. I think for the next five games, simple hockey, help our ( defence) and continue to make those simple offensive plays.”