Senators’ Nick Cousins to return following 30-game injury absence

Ottawa Senators forward Nick Cousins will return to the lineup Sunday versus the Philadelphia Flyers after missing the past 30 games due to a knee injury, reports Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch.

Sidelined since late January, Cousins has been limited to 47 appearances with the Senators this season in which he has registered five goals and eight assists for 13 points coupled with 39 penalty minutes and a minus-two rating. Skating in his first season with the Senators, Cousins agreed to a one-year, $800,000 deal with the club in unrestricted free agency after hoisting the Stanley Cup with the Atlantic Division rival Florida Panthers last spring.

Originally chosen by the Flyers in the third round of the 2011 NHL Draft, Cousins has totaled 639 career contests counting stops with the Flyers, the former Arizona Coyotes, Montreal Canadiens, Vegas Golden Knights, Nashville Predators, Panthers, and Senators in which he has collected 76 goals and 117 assists for 193 points with 351 penalty minutes. On two occasions, Cousins has reached a career-high 27 points, coming with the Coyotes in 2018-19 and with the Panthers in 2022-23. A 31-year-old native of Belleville, Ont., Cousins has also added four goals and 11 assists for 15 points through 63 appearances in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Cousins returns to a Senators squad that on Tuesday secured its spot in the upcoming Stanley Cup Playoffs, marking the first time since 2017 in which the club will participate in the postseason. On the season, the Senators hold down the first wildcard seed in the Eastern Conference with a 43-30-6 record, four points back of the Panthers for third place in the Atlantic Division.

Beyond Sunday’s contest against the Flyers, the Senators will close out their regular-season schedule with upcoming games against the Chicago Blackhawks as well as the Carolina Hurricanes.