Just a few days ago, there was a silving lining for the Ottawa Senators. Defenceman Artem Zub resumed skating in a regular jersey at practice and head coach Travis Green provided an update on Jake Sanderson and said that his return was on the horizon. This would mean that the Ottawa Senators should have their regular rotation of defensive pairings back in their lineup soon. Unfortunately, in the opening period of the Senators game versus the New Jersey Devils, there was another wrinkle in the club’s hopeful plan.
Just halfway through the first period at the Prudential Center, Devils forward Anthony Mantha laid a rather dangerous hit on Senators defenceman Nikolas Matinpalo along the boards just outside the Devils bench. While a scuffle ensued, Matinpalo was slow to get up and was assessed by a trainer on the ice. Eventually, he headed down the tunnel and it was shortly after announced that the Finnish Olympian would not return to the game due to an upper-body injury. With the hit from behind landing right on his jersey numbers, Mantha was assessed a five-minute major for boarding. He was not given a game misconduct for the hit and returned in the second period. The Devils killed off the penalty and held the Senators to just two shots.
#NJDevils forward Anthony Mantha is issued a 5-minute major for boarding #Sens defender Nikolas Matinpalo, who leaves the game with an injury. #GoSensGo pic.twitter.com/9ZxgbFSrnh
— NHL News (@PuckReportNHL) October 12, 2026
It is now safe to say that the Senators are in the middle of a blue line injury crisis. Sanderson has been sidelined since midway through the first period of the season opener, Zub has yet to play a regular season game so far as he continues to heal from a knee injury and depth defenceman Cam Crotty was recently placed on the team’s injury reserve. This has put immense pressure on Thomas Chabot, Jordan Spence, Carter Yakemchuk and rookie Hoyt Stanley to hold the fort down on the blue line.
As the team continues to play off of their ‘next man up’ mentality, the Senators could see rookie defenceman Jorian Donovan draw into the lineup tomorrow after his recent recall from Belleville. The Senators will host the St. Louis Blues tomorrow night for the latter half of two back to back games.
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