DAY-TO-DAY BOROWIECKI MAY SIT OUT BATTLE OF ONTARIO

The Ottawa Senators will have to learn to live without Mark Borowiecki.

The rugged defenceman did not finish Tuesday night’s game against the Vancouver Canucks after dropping the gloves with Derek Dorsett during the second period. And he sat out Thursday night when the New Jersey Devils visited Canadian Tire Centre.

Borowiecki, who spent the summer going through rehabilitation on an injured shoulder rather than undergoing surgery, is listed as day-to-day.

Senators coach Guy Boucher said Borowiecki — who has been involved in fights the last three games — is doing what he feels he has to do in the role he’s playing, but there are no guarantees he’ll answer the bell for Round 1 of the Battle of Ontario against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night.

“I never ask players to fight. That’s the old days when I started in coaching and it was very different,” said Boucher before facing the Devils. “Today, the game has changed and guys know what their roles are and they know what they want do and they know the role they’d like to have on the team.”

Boucher said there are times — like in Edmonton last Saturday when Borowiecki dropped the gloves with Milan Lucic — that the defenceman feels he has to stand up for his teammates.

“Boro brings toughness and hits,” Boucher added. “Sometimes he’s dropped the gloves and that’s his way of getting involved and trying to change things in the game when it happens or defending somebody.

“If somebody jumps on Erik Karlsson, are we going to ask (Thomas) Chabot to go jump in and defend Erik Karlsson? No. That’s where Boro has taken it upon himself to take care of his buddies and make sure the game doesn’t get out of hand. Last Saturday in Edmonton, you’ve got Lucic, who sends fear everywhere he goes, and after (the fight) our guys looked bigger and tougher.”