Ottawa Senators forward Shane Pinto is going to miss at least two weeks, Sens head coach Travis Green told reporters on Saturday.

Pinto suffered a lower-body injury in the team’s 4-2 loss against the New York Rangers on Thursday. He fell to the ice after being checked along the boards by New York centre Mika Zibanejad., and appeared to be in some discomfort as he skated back to the bench.

“It’s a big part of our team,” Green said on Saturday. “Like when Brady got hurt, [Chabot] – those are big parts of your team. We’re going to miss him when he’s out. When he gets back that’ll be great.”

The news comes at a tough time for the Senators, who sit fifth in the Atlantic division at 13-10-4 but have battled through injuries throughout the season.

Captain Brady Tkachuk missed over a month of action earlier in the year, and though he made his return to the lineup last week against the St. Louis Blues, he has suited up in just seven games on the campaign thus far.

Already without injured defenceman Thomas Chabot, the Senators also did not have forward Lars Eller or defenceman Artem Zub available against the Rangers.

Chabot is on injured reserve while Eller and Zub are day-to-day.

“You [hate to] lose a player like [Pinto], the year he’s having, how reliable he is to play against the other teams’ top guys every night,” said Senators forward Drake Batherson on Thursday. “So, we’re hoping he’s OK and it’s not too bad.”

Ridly Greig shifted over to centre to replace Pinto, and the team also called up Hayden Hodgson. Greig was spotted taking face-off reps in practice on Saturday morning.

“Ridly is quite capable. It’s a luxury that we have a guy that can play centre,” Green said. “I think if you asked Ridly he would probably rather play centre. He’s been good as a young player – centre-ice position is a harder position to play than the wing. Now that he’s been in the league longer he’s more adept at playing centre. I’m not worried about it at all, he’ll do a good job there.”

Pinto has a team-leading 12 goals through 27 games, and has also chipped in six helpers for 18 points on the season.