Erik Brannstrom leaves Ottawa Senators game on stretcher

Ottawa Senators defenseman Erik Brannstrom was taken off the ice on a stretcher after falling awkwardly in a game against the New York Islanders on Thursday.

Brannstrom was hit by Islanders forward Cal Clutterbuck at 8:43 in the second period, landing headfirst on the ice. The Islanders had a 2-1 lead at the time of the injury, and won the game 3-2. Brannstrom had 7:37 of ice time before leaving the game.

The Senators announced that Brannstrom is awake and alert while having use of his extremities. He was transported to a local area hospital in the New York area.

The 24-year-old blueliner has played in all seven games for the Senators this season, but has yet to hit the scoresheet. He had a career-best season in 2022-23, scoring twice and recording 18 points in 74 games with the Senators in his first complete season.

Drafted 15th overall in 2017 by Vegas, Brannstrom bounced around between the NHL and AHL for the first four years of his career. The Swedish-born blueliner has 49 points in 197 games over six years.

Outside of the NHL, Brannstrom helped Sweden win silver at the 2015 Hlinka Gretzky Cup, 2016 U-18 World Championship and 2018 world juniors. He also was an SHL champion with HV71 in 2018 before joining the AHL’s Chciago Wolves the following year.