The collision between Ottawa teammates, forward Clarke MacArthur and goalie Robin Lehner, has proven costly, as both players have been diagnosed with concussions and we're placed on the Injured Reserve this week, retroactive to their injury date, which was Monday night. Both will be eligible to come off next week, but with the tests taking as long as they did, this could be more of a longer-term issue.The Senators have already done some call-ups this week, bringing up Chris Driedger to back-up Andrew Hammond in net, having dressed on Wednesday night. At the forward position, they have called up Matt Puempel, who will try and earn a spot in the morning skates.
MacArthur is the more valuable member of the hockey pool circles, as he has scored 13 goals and 26 points in 53 games, scoring at a shade under half a point-per-game. He is currently ranked in 209th overall in pool scoring.
At the time of the injury, Lehner was filling in for the injured Craig Anderson, picking up some valuable minutes, but his numbers hadn't really improved a great deal. Lehner has 9 wins and 1 assist for 19 points this year, averaging 0.77 points for every 60 minutes he plays. Through Thursday's action, he ranks 317th in pool scoring.
This could be a significant blow to Grant S.'s team, as it has been fairly healthy all year, ranking 8th in skater games played, his lead over 3rd place is now down to 27 points, shrinking slowly with seven weeks to go in the season. MacArthur may not have been a big scorer for his side, but taking half a point away from every game he misses could add up before too long.The race to not be last place has been somewhat interesting and it gets a little bit more interesting, as Ryan loses one of his goalies, compounding the unlucky season he has been having. As of Friday morning, his team is 11 points clear of last place, but the competition in the injury department is fierce and it has been tit-for-tat of late. Who knows how it will finish.
An updated list of injuries can be found here.
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