{"id":394704,"date":"2026-01-07T02:25:56","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T02:25:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/394704\/"},"modified":"2026-01-07T02:25:56","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T02:25:56","slug":"puck-to-the-face-isnt-enough-to-stop-senators-chabot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/394704\/","title":{"rendered":"Puck to the face isn\u2019t enough to stop Senators\u2019 Chabot"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Ottawa Senators’ defenceman Thomas Chabot (72) and Winnipeg Jets’ centre Morgan Barron (36) battle for the puck during their game on Saturday.PATRICK DOYLE\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

Thomas Chabot will likely be shopping for soft foods in the days ahead.<\/p>\n

The Ottawa Senators\u2019 defenceman took a puck to the face and is dealing with a mouthful of stitches, the latest painful reminder of the hazards of the job.<\/p>\n

Chabot suffered the injury Saturday night against the Winnipeg Jets when Tanner Pearson\u2019s clearing attempt caught Chabot straight in the mouth.<\/p>\n

The 28-year-old immediately left the ice but returned for the third period wearing a full bubble and said he never considered not finishing the game.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce I saw that the teeth, well teeth is one thing, but the jaw wasn\u2019t broken or anything then you\u2019re good to go,\u201d Chabot said. \u201cMy head was fine. Everything was good, so once the jaw was cleared and good to go it was just about doing some stitches and getting back out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

While tough might not be the first word that comes to mind when describing the smooth skating defenceman, there\u2019s no denying his ability to play through pain.<\/p>\n

Over the years Chabot has dealt with a myriad of injuries and has gained his teammate\u2019s respect for his pain tolerance and perseverance.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis guy is a warrior,\u201d said teammate Claude Giroux. \u201cHe brings it every night, doesn\u2019t complain, plays the game, plays it hard and you know I have a lot of respect for that guy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before the injury Chabot was having an impressive night. He had already scored two goals, matching his total for the season, and admitted he had started thinking about a potential hat trick. He finished the game with a pair of goals, three blocked shots and 20:30 of ice time.<\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Thomas Chabot of the Ottawa Senators reacts after being hit in the face by the puck during the second period of his team’s game against the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday.Minas Panagiotakis\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Chabot missed 15 games earlier this season with an upper-body injury. He initially suffered what was deemed an upper-body injury on Nov. 12 and missed three games. He then returned to the lineup but re-aggravated the injury Nov. 22 and missed the next 12 games.<\/p>\n

While the team never disclosed the exact injury it\u2019s believed Chabot was dealing with a core muscle injury. He returned to the lineup Dec. 20 and has been a steady presence on the back end.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a big night for Chabby,\u201d said head coach Travis Green. \u201cIt\u2019s a rough game, tough game. It\u2019s not for the weak of heart. Chabby\u2019s known as an offensive player but he\u2019s tough as nails and plays through a lot of pain. I was probably complaining that he was out too long.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chabot averages 22:17 of ice time, putting him second behind Jake Sanderson, who averages 25:12, but there is no doubt he is a leader for the Senators.<\/p>\n

Well respected by peers and coaching staff, Chabot provides a steady presence on the back end who can chip in offensively.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s great having him back,\u201d said teammate Drake Batherson. \u201cHe\u2019s a big voice in here. And we love having him back in the lineup.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Senators have dealt with adversity most of the season and are currently without starting goaltender Linus Ullmark, who is on a personal leave of absence, but have won back-to-back games and seem to be playing the brand of hockey that leads to success.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s two big games to start the new year here at home in front of our fans and the way we played,\u201d said Chabot. \u201cI thought the first 40 minutes we set the tone and we took charge of that game and we were the better team.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Ottawa Senators’ defenceman Thomas Chabot (72) and Winnipeg Jets’ centre Morgan Barron (36)…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":394705,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5104],"tags":[1018,1001,1019,967,991,1020,19,990,1008,1009,1004,992,989,1014,1016,1013,1007,1000,1030,993,994,1006,5,1002,1003,997,1021,998,1025,1026,4,1028,1023,1027,786,72,25,5157,1024,995,1011,1012,333,1010,1022,73,86,1015,1017,1005,999,996,1029],"class_list":["post-394704","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ottawa-senators","tag-alberta","tag-arts-news","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-news","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-environment","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-government","tag-hockey","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-national-news","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-nhl","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-ottawa","tag-ottawa-senators","tag-ottawasenators","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-senators","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/394704","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=394704"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/394704\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/394705"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=394704"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=394704"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=394704"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}