Three Key Ottawa Senators Absent From Practice On Monday
Following a day off on Sunday, the red-hot Ottawa Senators were without three of their key players at Monday's practice.
Mar 13, 2025: Ottawa Senators goalie Linus Ullmark (35) celebrates with left wing Brady Tkachuk (7) following their win against the Boston Bruins at the Canadian Tire Centre. (Marc DesRosiers-Imagn Images)Team captain Brady Tkachuk, defenceman Nick Jensen, and goalie Linus Ullmark were all absent for various reasons. Senators head coach Travis Green stated after practice that both Tkachuk and Ullmark should be good to go for Tuesday night's game in Montreal against the Canadiens.
Jensen, who missed Saturday’s game against the Toronto Maple Leafs due to a lower-body injury, skated a bit on his own on Monday. Green said, "We'll see how he is tomorrow." Jensen has averaged over 20 minutes of ice per night this season, and the 34-year-old is frequently credited for helping to improve Thomas Chabot's game.
Ullmark's absence is probably related to load management again, with the team looking to keep him fresh for the final stretch of 16 games. That's such a top priority right now that the Sens called up Leevi Merilainen last Tuesday so that Ullmark's night off couldn't possibly be interrupted in a back-to-back in Philadelphia.
Tkachuk, on the other hand, is likely dealing with a small, nagging kind of injury, possibly dating back to the Four Nations Face-off event in February. After Tkachuk was held out of the final seven minutes of the Boston game last Thursday, Green said the captain was dealing with a tweaked hip.
Meanwhile, Monday’s session was the first full practice for Sens trade deadline acquisitions Dylan Cozens, Fabian Zetterlund, and Dennis Gilbert. With Tkachuk's absence, it also provided an opportunity to see Zetterlund skate alongside higher-skilled teammates as he practiced with Tim Stützle and Claude Giroux.
Since being traded from the San Jose Sharks, Zetterlund has played on the fourth line for all four games so far. He played only 8:24 in Toronto on Saturday night as the Sens defeated the Maple Leafs 4-2 and ran their recent hot streak to 7-0-1. That's a far cry from his last game in San Jose when he played over 18 minutes.
If the lack of ice time so far is bothering Zetterlund, it's not something he's showing the media. He seems perfectly happy and says he feels like he's fitting in well.
"Yeah, the guys are awesome," Zetterlund told TSN 1200's Gord Wilson. "We have a lot of fun in the group. I could see before (I got here) it's a close group, and I stepped right in. And yeah, they welcomed me so good, and I'm ready."
Here's how the lines looked at Monday's practice.
By Steve Warne
Site Editor at The Hockey News Ottawa
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