Ottawa Senators defenceman Tyler Kleven was ruled out of their game against the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday with an upper-body injury, TSN’s Claire Hanna reports.
Tyler Kleven won’t return to tonight‘s game. The defenseman is out with an upper body injury. #Sens
— Claire Hanna (@clahanna) April 3, 2026
Kleven took a puck to the head/neck area early in the first period of the game on a shot attempt by Sabres forward Tage Thompson. Kleven fell to the ice immediately, and multiple Senators players waved for the training staff to examine Kleven as play was whistled dead.
Kleven was able to skate off the ice quickly and went straight down the tunnel to the locker room for further examination. He left after playing just 1:48 of ice time in three shifts.
The timing of the injury is particularly tough for the Senators, who are two points behind the Columbus Blue Jackets for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with eight games remaining on the schedule. They are also tied with the Detroit Red Wings and Philadelphia Flyers entering play on Thursday.
Ottawa has surged into the playoff conversation since returning from the Olympic break at the end of February. They have picked up points in 13 of 17 games since returning from the break, with a record of 10-4-3 over that span. This despite losing many key contributors to injury over the past few weeks, including top defencemen Jake Sanderson (upper-body injury) and Thomas Chabot (forearm surgery) as well as promising rookie defenceman Carter Yakemchuk and veteran forward Nick Jensen.
Kleven, 24, has three goals and 18 points in 69 games this season for Ottawa.
The Senators are chasing their second consecutive playoff berth after missing the postseason every season from 2017 to 2024.