Senators’ Tkachuk and Stutzle leave game with injuries
The Ottawa Senators may have experienced the absolute worst case scenario for a preseason game.
The Sens are now down three of their best players, as they’ve announced that captain Brady Tkachuk and star forward Tim Stutzle would not be returning to Tuesday’s game against the Montreal Canadiens due to upper-body injuries, while defenseman Thomas Chabot is being held out for precautionary reasons.
Brady Tkachuk (upper body) and Tim Stützle (upper body) will not return tonight.
Brady Tkachuk (haut du corps) et Tim Stützle (haut du corps) ne seront pas de retour au jeu ce soir.
Thomas Chabot (precautionary reasons) will not return.
Thomas Chabot (mesures préventives) ne sera pas de retour au jeu ce soir.
Tkachuk and Stutzle left the game midway through the second period as they were both injured during the same stretch of events. As Stutzle was entering the offensive zone, Canadiens defenseman Arber Xhekaj went for a hit on the Sens’ center, appearing to target the head, resulting in Stutzle’s injury. In response, Tkachuk got into a fight with Xhekaj, and likely suffered an injury during the play.
There is no confirmation about the severity and length of the injuries suffered to either player.
If Stutzle finds himself hurt by the time the regular season starts, it will be a tough start to what he probably would have liked to have been a bounce-back season. After a breakout 2022-23 campaign, he took a step back in 2023-24 with 18 goals and 52 assists for 70 points in 75 games.
Tkachuk would also be a big loss to the lineup should he miss significant time with an injury. Tkachuk had 37 goals and 37 assists for 74 points in 81 games with the Sens last season.
Xhekaj received a game misconduct as a result of the plays and was ejected from the match. This comes just three days after he received a game misconduct against the Toronto Maple Leafs for retaliating against a hit made by Cedric Pare on Patrik Laine. Xhekaj had 3 goals and 7 assists for 10 points in 44 games with the Habs in 2023-24.
The Sens also announced that Chabot was held out for precautionary reasons, as he did not play a shift in the third period of the game. It’s unclear as to whether or not the precautionary reasons are due to an injury or just to play it safe with Stutzle and Tkachuk already hurt.