Senators Call Up Two Forwards As Injury Problems Continue

The Senators are getting some much-needed reinforcements for their forward lines.

According to the AHL transactions page, the Sens have called up forwards Philip Tomasino and Xavier Bourgault from their American Hockey League affiliate ahead of Saturday afternoon's road game against the San Jose Sharks (4pm Eastern).

The callups come after the Senators lost Warren Foegele to a lower-body injury Tuesday in Vegas, followed by Andre Burakovsky in Thursday's wild 6-5 overtime loss to the Los Angeles Kings.

Making matters worse, Hayden Hodgson is likely to be suspended for a bad hit on Kings defenceman Brandt Clarke on Thursday night.

Hodgson's ejection, combined with Burakovsky's first-period departure, has left the Senators with just 10 forwards as they get ready for back to back games in San Jose and Anaheim this weekend.

The situation has become a nightly game of roster whack-a-mole for Green. Just when the Senators appear to be getting healthy, another player goes down.

Foegele is expected to miss an extended period with his injury, while the severity of Burakovsky's latest setback is still unclear. Burakovsky had already missed four games earlier this season with an upper-body injury.

The Senators are also without William Eklund, who remains sidelined following ankle surgery.

Tomasino and Bourgault have been fantastic in the AHL this season. Both are former NHL first-rounders and have combined for 20 points in 10 games in Belleville. With Burakovsky scuffling again this season with zero points in 8 games, the duo must have been wondering if an NHL opportunity might be looming.

Tomasino is certainly one to watch. Not only does he have 11 points in 10 games with Belleville, but he also has 218 games of NHL experience with Nashville and Pittsburgh.

In a corresponding move, the B-Sens have signed Ottawa native Kyle McDonald to a PTO. The 6-foot-5, 210 pound winger spent the past three years with the AHL's Texas Stars.

By Steve Warne
The Hockey News Ottawa