Ottawa Senators defenseman Jake Sanderson will miss Saturday’s potential playoff elimination game against the visiting Carolina Hurricanes due to a concussion.
Senators coach Travis Green confirmed Sanderson’s status Friday, telling reporters that he is “not doing well.” The Hurricanes have a 3-0 lead in the Eastern Conference first-round series.
Sanderson sustained the injury in the second period of Thursday’s 2-1 loss on a high hit by Carolina forward Taylor Hall. Hall received a two-minute penalty for the blow that dislodged Sanderson’s helmet.
Sanderson played two more shifts before exiting the game.
“I just don’t understand how there’s not a five-minute major called on the hit to the head,” Green said after the game. “It’s a blatant hit to the head, the kind of hits you don’t want to see.
Sanderson, 23, has two assists in three games in the series. He recorded 54 points (14 goals, 40 assists) and a career-best plus-16 rating in 67 games during the regular season.
He has spent four seasons with the Senators, who selected him with the fifth overall pick in the 2020 NHL Draft.
