Senators' Forward Hayden Hodgson Officially Suspended

The Senators are running out of healthy bodies at forward, and as expected, Hayden Hodgson won’t be around to help this weekend in California.

The rugged forward has been officially handed a two-game ban for a reckless, dangerous hit on Los Angeles Kings defenceman Brandt Clarke during Thursday night's 6-5 overtime loss.

The incident occurred at 11:15 of the second period, when Hodgson came charging in on the forecheck and delivered a hard hit from behind on Clarke, driving the Ottawa native face first into the boards.

Hodgson was assessed a five-minute major for boarding and a game misconduct. Clarke left the game with an upper-body injury and did not return.

The NHL's Department of Player Safety announced Friday that Hodgson would face a hearing for boarding and charging.

The Sens have lost three forwards in the past two road games. 

Warren Foegele suffered a lower-body injury Tuesday in Vegas and Andre Burakovsky went down with a lower-body injury Thursday against the Kings. Now Hodgson is unavailable as well. William Eklund is also sidelined with an ankle injury.

The latest absences have forced GM Steve Staios to look to Belleville for reinforcements. Philip Tomasino and Xavier Bourgault, the Belleville Senators' top two scorers, have been called up ahead of Saturday's game in San Jose.

By Steve Warne
The Hockey News Ottawa