Senators’ Karlsson to make season debut against Canucks
Vancouver visits Ottawa tonight
OTTAWA — Fresh off a romp through Western Canada, the Ottawa Senators are getting a huge momentum boost with the return of star defenceman Erik Karlsson. The Senators’ captain will be back in the lineup tonight when the Vancouver Canucks visit a surging Ottawa team looking for its fourth win in a row.
Karlsson missed the first five games of the regular season, including a three-game road sweep of Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton, as he recovered from off-season surgery to repair torn tendons in his left foot.
“I had the appropriate amount of time to get ready to play again and it’s exciting,” Karlsson said on Monday after practice. “I’m going to be a little bit rusty probably, but it’s better to get back into things as early as possible and hopefully it will get better as we move along.”
Coach Guy Boucher couldn’t hide his excitement at having Karlsson back in the fold.
“I think he’s the best player in the world,” said Boucher. “It just brings you basically an impact on everything — your breakouts, your transition, your (offensive) zone, your power play, your defensive play, it’s your leader. He is who he is. He has such a presence. It’s not just a hockey player, it’s everything around it, too, and it’s time.”
While Karlsson usually leads the Senators in ice time Boucher said, “we’re going to try to be smart here. We don’t need him to play 35 minutes. It’s going to be more about him, what he can take.”
At practice Monday Karlsson was paired with Dion Phaneuf, but Boucher said not to buy too much into his pairings as things could change very quickly during the game.
Craig Anderson will get the start tonight for the Senators (3-0-2). He made 26 saves in a 3-2 shootout win over Vancouver last week.
The rebuilding Canucks (1-2-1) are starting their five-game road trip in Ottawa before travelling to Boston, Buffalo, Detroit and Minnesota.
NOTES: Vancouver signed 2017 secondround pick Jonah Gadjovich to a three-year entry level contract on Monday . . . . The Canucks recalled centre Michael Chaput from the AHL’s Utica Comets with Brandon Sutter missing practice due to illness.