The Ottawa Senators have had to battle the odds all season.
They’ll have to do it again down the stretch.
The Senators woke up in the final playoff spot on Friday morning in the National Hockey League’s Eastern Conference, but took another hit when they lost defenceman Tyler Kleven to injury in a 4-1 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday night.
It sounds doubtful that Kleven will face the Minnesota Wild on Saturday (1 p.m.) or the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday (5 p.m.), but help could be on the way with only seven games left in the season.
Senators head coach Travis Green told reporters on Thursday morning that there was a chance that Jake Sanderson would play this weekend, but there wasn’t expected to be a formal update on the lineup until Saturday morning.
Sanderson was among a handful of players on the ice Friday for an optional skate that took place after the club held its team photo. He wore a red jersey, which is normally reserved for players who take contact, but he was the only blueliner out there.
Sanderson had been in a non-contact jersey during the morning skate on Thursday after injuring his right shoulder March 7 against the Seattle Kraken. He has missed the past 13 games.
Getting Sanderson back would be a huge boost. He has 11 goals and 37 assists for 48 points in 62 games while averaging nearly 25 minutes of ice time.
Tough hit for Kleven
Kleven took a puck in the face six minutes into Thursday’s game and didn’t return with what the club called an upper-body injury. He was being sent for further testing, but it was in the jaw area and Green admitted he was “not expecting great news.”
If the jaw is broken, Kleven could be out as long as five to six weeks. He could return earlier while wearing a full visor, but that’s a decision to be made in consultation with the medical staff.
This was another blow because Kleven had already stepped up to play big minutes in the absence of regulars Sanderson, Thomas Chabot and Nick Jensen, along with Belleville callups Carter Yakemchuk and Dennis Gilbert, who have also been injured.
Yakemchuk was placed into concussion protocol after taking an elbow to the face from Noah Gregor of the Florida Panthers on Tuesday. There is usually no timetable for those kinds of injuries.
Artem Zub, right, of the Senators checks Peyton Krebs of the Sabres in the first period of Thursday’s game at the Canadian Tire Centre.
Artem Zub, right, of the Senators checks Peyton Krebs of the Sabres in the first period of Thursday’s game at the Canadian Tire Centre.
Defensive depth tested
The Senators have used 13 defencemen this season, including Donovan Sebrango, who was claimed on waivers by the Panthers early in the season. Cameron Crotty, an Ottawa native, was called up from the American Hockey League affiliate in Belleville to play against Buffalo on Thursday.
That was only Crotty’s third NHL game and his first in a year.
The blueline has looked like a revolving door at times. Since the Olympic break ended on Feb. 26, the Senators have used 12 different defencemen because of injuries. Kleven was the only left-shot rearguard in the lineup on Thursday.
Assistant coach Nolan Baumgartner, who handles defensive changes during the game, is doing a solid job while handling everybody’s ice time.
“We’re just trying to remember the first names,” Green said tongue-in-cheek before facing the Sabres. “It’s been a lot of (defencemen) coming in our lineup. As a team, your structure hopefully gets you through it. There are going to be times when you’re maybe a little under water.
“Some of the games we’ve won, our goalies have played well. You need your whole team to play well when you’re going through times like that. It’s just the defencemen, you need the forwards to be on top of their games, not just offensively, but also helping them defensively.
“Those are things that we talk about when we’re fully manned as well. It doesn’t change; we’ve got to put an emphasis on our 200-foot game, for sure.”
You had to give the five blueliners who finished Thursday’s game against the Sabres a lot of credit because they did a solid job, while playing the final 54 minutes without Kleven. Jordan Spence led in ice time with a touch over 30 minutes and was excellent.
Artem Zub set up the winning goal with a shot from the point that was tipped home by centre Lars Eller in the third period.
Now another big weekend awaits the Senators and their fans.
“We want playoffs,” fans chanted in the final minutes on Thursday.
It won’t be long until they find out if it’s going to happen.
bgarrioch@postmedia.com
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