The Senators jumped back onto the practice ice on Sunday morning. After a night in which they outshot the St. Louis Blues by a 2:1 margin but lost on the scoreboard, 2-1, head coach Travis Green would have been forgiven if he had chosen to work on nothing but scoring drills.

But at Green’s media availability after practice, the first focus was on health, as the injury bug continues to linger in the capital.

The Senators are already without Shane Pinto, Thomas Chabot, and Lars Eller, but got three new scares at practice. For one, Jake Sanderson was absent, though he was merely given the morning off. That feels more than reasonable the day after logging more than 31 minutes of ice time in a game that didn’t go to overtime.

But Tim Stützle and Nick Jensen also left the practice ice, both looking uncomfortable.

Stützle was shaking his hand but returned to finish the practice. Jensen, who is still getting fully used to playing with body parts he wasn’t born with, also left the ice briefly and came back. But then he left a second time and did not return.

And so the local media went through the motions of asking Green about injuries, knowing that he's rarely forthcoming about them. Right on cue, the coach reached for his Nothing-To-See-Here Playbook when asked for an update on Stützle and Jensen.

“They’re fine,” Green told TSN 1200’s Dean Brown. “I haven’t heard anything from the medical team as far as anything concerning, but as far as I know, they’re fine.”

Not many players coming off major hip surgery are ever described as “fine” right after leaving the ice twice in the same practice. It also doesn't feel particularly definitive when the declaration of good health is prefaced with “as far as I know.” 

So Jensen’s status remains one worth keeping an eye on for further speculation in the next day or two.

Not to get ahead of ourselves, but it would be intriguing to see how the Sens would react if Jensen had to miss time.

Dennis Gilbert is currently the seventh defenseman and could be inserted into the lineup, pushing Nikolas Matinpalo back to his normal side. But some fans on social media have suggested leaving Matinpalo right where he is and maybe try and create a spark by promoting Carter Yakemchuk, generally seen as the club's top prospect.

Just as he was in junior, Yakemchuk has been good offensively with 16 points in 24 games in Belleville. But flawed as it is, it's hard not to raise at least one eyebrow at his minus-16, the fifth-worst rating in the AHL. 

The Senators will host the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday night, trying to avoid being swept in their three-game homestand or falling any further out of the playoff race. They end the weekend in second last place in the Eastern Conference, ahead of only the Buffalo Sabres, but just three points out of a playoff spot.

Steve Warne
The Hockey News 

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