ottawa senators will be without versatile centre shane pinto for at least two weeks
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the ottawa senators’ roster has taken another hit.
centre shane pinto, who left in the first period of the club’s 4-2 loss to the new york rangers on thursday night, will be out a minimum of two weeks and likely more after sustaining a lower-body injury.
pinto was placed on injured reserve on friday, and the club recalled winger hayden hodgson from its american hockey league affiliate in belleville to face the st. louis blues on saturday night.
the club’s third-line centre took a hit along the boards from rangers’ forward mika zibanejad and went straight to the bench. pinto tried to skate during a television timeout, looked uncomfortable and went straight to the room.
pinto went for further testing on friday, and it would be surprising if he’s back before the national hockey league’s mandated three-day holiday break from dec. 24 to dec. 27.
his equipment has been removed from the dressing room, which is normal for an injured player, and pinto’s spot is now occupied by hodgson.
“it’s tough. we’ve been dealing with a lot of injuries, and we need those next guys up,” centre tim stutzle said on saturday before facing the blues. “i’ve got to play better. it’s going to be a good challenge for us. i hope that (pinto) comes back as soon as possible.”
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stutzle is right, the senators’ depth is being put to the test.
veteran centre lars eller missed his second straight game on saturday with an undisclosed ailment, and defenceman thomas chabot hasn’t resumed skating after he reinjured a core muscle two weeks ago against the san jose sharks.
there was some good news because defenceman artem zub returned after missing one game. this is a tough blow for pinto; he has 12 goals and 18 points in 27 games this season and is trying to push for a spot on team usa at the winter olympics in milan in february.
coach travis green said the injury is a tough blow, but the senators have to deal with it.
“he’s a big part of our team,” green said. “it’s like when brady (tkachuk) got hurt and (chabot). those are big parts of our team, and we’re going to miss him.”
green moved ridly greig from the wing on the fourth line to centre on the third line against the blues. he played between michael amadio and veteran winger claude giroux.
“ridly is quite capable. it’s a luxury that we have a guy that can play centre,” green said. “i think if you asked ridly, he would probably rather play centre. he’s been good as a young player — the centre-ice position is a harder position to play than the wing.
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“now that he’s been in the league longer, he’s more adept at playing centre. i’m not worried about it at all, he’ll do a good job there.”
greig mostly plays on the wing, but is a natural centre.
“i’ve played centre before and, hopefully, i can just pick up where i left off and get my feet moving a little,” greig said.
asked if he had a preference for playing centre or wing, greig added with a laugh: “i feel like whatever i’m going to say, it’s going to switch the next game. greener likes to bounce me around, so i just do whatever i can.”
but greig understands there is nothing wrong with versatility. he’s playing with two good wingers who are strong at both ends of the ice. amadio and giroux have had a lot of success with pinto, but you feel like that duo can play with anybody.
“it’s not going to be easy because he logs a lot of minutes against top lines, so i’m filling in at that spot, so hopefully i can just get it done,” greig said. “i’ve played with (amadio) and claude, so i feel like we can have a grinder mentality to try to keep pucks low.”
belleville call-up stephen halliday centred the fourth line with nick cousins and hodgson.
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