Senators Injury List Getting Crowded

Knock up another one for the Ottawa Senators tough luck season.

Thursday the Sens added goaltender Craig Anderson to their already crowded press box of walking wounded.  Anderson left Thursdays game against the Rangers in the third period after New York forward Chris Kreider was tripped in front and slid into the netminder.  No penalty was called on the play and Anderson had to be helped to the locker room.  The 31-year-old Anderson, leads the league with a 1.57 goals-against average and .950 save percentage.  The team announced that Anderson suffered a sprained right ankle and is listed as day-to-day.

In what is quickly becoming the most injured Senators season in years, the list of players not available to play continues to grow. Forward Jason Spezza remains out indefinitely with a herniated disk in his back.  The Senators star had successful surgery  and hopes to return before the end of the season.

Norris Trophy defenceman Erik Karlsson is out for the remainder of the campaign since suffering a lacerated Achilles in a widely publicized incident with Penguins forward Matt Cooke.  Karlsson had surgery Thursday and Senators general manager Bryan Murray said the surgery went well.  “It was a clean-cut and recovery is expected to be 100 per cent,” Murray said.  Recovery is expected to take three to four months.  Some NHL players wear Kevlar socks for additional protection from such injuries but Karlsson is not one of them.

The Senators are also without defenceman Jared Cowen who had hip surgery and is done for the year and center Peter Regin who continues to recover from an upper body and remains questionable.

Forwards Guillaume Latendresse who hasn’t played since January 30 with whiplash and Milan Michalek who is expected to be out another week with an injured knee round out the list of unavailable Senators.

“We’re going to start a pool for who’s next,” Ottawa captain Daniel Alfredsson said following the Rangers game.  It is no laughing matter though for the Senators who at 10-6-2 are sitting in seventh place in the eastern conference and can ill afford to be without Anderson for an extended period of time.

The Senators play host to Toronto on Saturday. and Montreal on Monday.