Senators’ Cousins leaves game after hit from Capitals’ Chychrun

The Ottawa Senators suffered a tough 3-2 overtime loss to the Washington Capitals on Tuesday, but the well-being of forward Nick Cousins is their biggest concern coming out of the game.

Late in the third period, Cousins was picking up the puck deep in his own zone and got absolutely hammered by a crushing body check from Capitals defenseman Jakob Chychrun.

The hit sent Cousins careening into the glass, and he lay motionless on the ice for some time before eventually getting helped to the Senators’ dressing room. Since the hit targeted Cousins’ chest and Chychrun did not leave his feet, there was no penalty assessed on the play.

After the game, Senators head coach Travis Green gave a less than promising update on Cousins’ status.

“He’s not doing great,” Green said.

Cousins, 33, has two goals and an assist for three points in 19 games this played this season. Last season, he put up nine goals and 14 assists for 23 points in 81 games before contributing no goals and an assist in Ottawa’s first-round playoff loss to the Carolina Hurricanes in four games.

Selected by the Philadelphia Flyers in the third round of the 2011 NHL Entry Draft, the Belleville, Ontario native has played for six different teams over 13 NHL seasons. Best known as an agitator and bottom-six forechecker, Cousins has never put up more than 27 points in a season, a number he reached in the 2018-19 season with the Arizona Coyotes, and then again in the 2022-23 season with the Florida Panthers. He won a Stanley Cup with the Panthers in the 2023-24 season.

Given the impact of Chychrun’s hit, the concern is that Cousins suffered a concussion. Cousins doesn’t have a lengthy history of head injuries, though he did miss 12 games with a concussion in the 2023-24 season.

Cousins is in the first season of a two-year, $3.18 million contract with Ottawa.

The Senators will finish up a three-game homestand against the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday.