Brannstrom ‘got lucky’ in skate-to-eye incident
At first glance, it’s tough to determine which is uglier: the combined eight stitches on Erik Brannstrom’s nose and left cheek or the purplish-blackish shiner immediately below his left eye.
The way the Ottawa Senators’ 20-year-old rookie defenceman sees it, though, he’s fortunate he can laugh off looking like he’s wearing an early Halloween costume.
“It was close to the eye, so I think I got lucky there,” Brannstrom said of the final-second collision Wednesday night in Toronto that ended up with Auston Matthews’ skate glancing off his face. “I was back on the ice (Thursday), so no worries. I can see and everything.” VALUE OF THE VISOR: As Matthews attempted to complete a hat trick by scoring into an empty net at the tail end of the Maple Leafs’ 5-3 win, Brannstrom and Thomas Chabot fought him off in the crease. As Matthews fell to the ice, his skate rose up and made contact.
Brannstrom didn’t know what the damage was as he skated immediately to the bench.
“I saw all the blood after. I didn’t know if it was a nosebleed or a cut or what. I have the big visor, so I think (the skate) clicked that a little bit.”
SIGH OF RELIEF: Senators coach D.J. Smith recognizes that the scene could have played out far worse.
“That’s a very dangerous play that could ruin a career,” he said. “Unfortunately for him, he’s not going to look good for now, but he’s going to be all right.”
Smith praised Brannstrom for pushing so hard to prevent a goal that would have done little more than enhance Matthews’ stats.
“I’ve seen him be competitive right through training camp and that’s why he’s here. If we didn’t think he could handle it, he wouldn’t be here. I thought he was great (against the Maple Leafs). I thought he was good again at practice. He had stitches in his face, but came out there and never said a word about missing practice.” BROWN NOISE: Earlier this week, we heard from Senators GM Pierre Dorion that Logan Brown was bitter at being reassigned to Belleville of the AHL in the final round of training camp cuts. Brown’s agent, Andy Scott, has added some spice to the story. Speaking on TSN 1200’s Offside show Thursday night with Eric Macramalla, Scott said, “We have never seen an early first round selection met with such resistance by the club that drafted them.” That’s debatable, but Brown, the Senators’ 11th overall selection in the 2016 NHL draft, did have a good, if not spectacular, training camp. The Senators offered no immediate comment on Scott’s comments, but it’s not a positive step in the Senators relationship with Brown as the AHL season gets underway this weekend.
FROM ONE ROOKIE TO ANOTHER: While Brannstrom looked comfortable enough on a pairing with Ron Hainsey, it was an opening night to forget for Drake Batherson.
The stitches Batherson was wearing came in the form of an ugly plus/minus of minus four.
“It’s probably not the start I wanted,” he said after spending an additional 20 minutes on the ice after formal practice ended. “But that’s the good thing about this sport.
“You play so many games, you just forget about it and focus on the next one.”
Whether Batherson is in the next one — Saturday’s home opener against the New York Rangers — is a big question.
With veteran Mikkel Boedker coming back in, Smith’s decision on a healthy scratch comes down to a choice between Batherson and Filip Chlapik, who played on the fourth line Wednesday.