The Ottawa Senators finally have some good news on the injury front. Read MoreThe Senators host the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday and then face the Boston Bruins on Sunday.
The Senators host the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday and then face the Boston Bruins on Sunday.
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The Ottawa Senators finally have some good news on the injury front.
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The Senators will play three games in four days before the National Hockey League’s mandated holiday break begins on Christmas Eve, but the club will receive an early gift under the tree this weekend.
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Defenceman Thomas Chabot, who has missed 12 games as a result of a core muscle injury he initially suffered on Nov. 11 against the Dallas Stars, is expected to face the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday afternoon at the Canadian Tire Centre.
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If he doesn’t, then he’ll face the Boston Bruins on Sunday. The Senators may not want to bring him back with back-to-back games on the schedule.
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The Senators sent defenceman Dennis Gilbert to their American Hockey League affiliate in Belleville on Friday. The NHL’s Christmas roster freeze will go into effect at 11:59 p.m. (local time) on Friday night and will stay in place until 12:01 a.m. on Dec. 28.
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Chabot had returned 10 days after initially suffering the injury to face the San Jose Sharks, but reinjured himself at the end of the game. Since then, the Senators have been taking every precaution to ensure that when Chabot is back, this doesn’t become an issue that will hinder him for the rest of the season.
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His return will help ease some of the strain on Jake Sanderson, who leads the club in ice time with 25 minutes and 14 seconds per game. Chabot is second with 21:55.
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“We miss him a lot,” Sanderson said on Friday. “He’s a guy that plays a lot of minutes for us and plays in every situation. Whenever he’s back, we’re going to be fired up to have him.”
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The question is: Who comes out with Chabot ready to play?
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Everybody has stepped up in his absence and some of the defenders have had to play bigger roles.
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Two candidates are Nikolas Matinpalo and Jordan Spence because they were in and out of the lineup before Chabot got hurt. Many believe it will be Matinpalo because he has been playing on the opposite side with Chabot out, but the Senators didn’t have a full skate on Friday.
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The club could opt to play seven defencemen, but that seems unlikely.
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Getting Chabot back helps the club’s alignment on the back end. He has been partnered with Nick Jensen for the most part this season and it wouldn’t be a surprise if coach Travis Green opted to go this route.