The injury bug hit at the worst possible time for Jake Sanderson and the Ottawa Senators. Sanderson was riding high from his gold medal win with Team USA at the Olympics, and the Senators were inching closer to a surprising run at the last wild card spot in the Eastern Conference. However, if their best defenseman has to miss an extended period of time, the chances of that happening decrease dramatically.
Senators on-air host Jackson Starr confirmed the injury on social media on Monday, reporting that Sanderson will be out week-to-week with an upper-body injury. While Starr didn't disclose the exact injury, it was a hit in the corner from Brandon Montour in Saturday night's game that sent Sanderson down the tunnel holding his right shoulder. A week-to-week designation could show that it isn't the worst-case scenario for a shoulder injury, but it is also the type of issue that could linger if Ottawa does make a run.
The Senators have done some good work to jump a couple of teams ahead of them and get right in the mix of the race with the Columbus Blue Jackets and Boston Bruins. The Senators would move just three points back of the Bruins with a win on Monday night, and would move one point back of the Blue Jackets after they lost their second-straight game in overtime.
Luckily for the Senators, they have Olympian Niklas Matinpalo as their seventh defenseman. While he can't do what Sanderson does for Ottawa, he is a fine interim replacement while they try to rehab Sanderson back to health.
