‘Obligation’ to MacArthur’s health made Sens wary about his return

The performance of Clarke MacArthur has been one of the miraculous stories of this playoff season.

His winning goal Sunday, which clinched the series against the Boston Bruins, was another highlight in what’s been an incredible return from post-concussion syndrome. When MacArthur wanted to come back — and he was thoroughly medically cleared — the Senators wanted to make sure he was sure in his heart he wanted to do it.

They didn’t try to talk him out of it.

“First and foremost, it’s about someone’s life and health,” Ottawa GM Pierre Dorion said Monday.

“When you see someone go through four concussions in a matter of 18 months, and you think about his wife and his two kids, you say, ‘We have an obligation here and are we doing the right thing?’

“It wasn’t just one doctor. We talked to multiple doctors to make sure. The person that wanted it the most was Clarke MacArthur, and (owner Eugene) Melnyk also spoke to Clarke to make sure he didn’t do this just to see if he could do it, to make sure he did it to have a purpose. Clarke had a purpose.

“His thing was always, ‘I know I can help this team,’ and let’s not fool ourselves, he’s helped this team a lot.”