With Senators fans already holding their breath with their goaltender out with a 'lower body injury,' they can now surely officially enter 'freakout mode,' as things have officially gone from bad to worse. After leaving Saturday night's game against Buffalo with that injured 'lower body' (the same 'lower body' that has caused him to miss significant parts of two of the last three seasons with knee and ankle surgeries), Leclaire was on the bench Monday night, backing up Brian Elliott. Apparently, he would have been better off on the ice.
During the victory over Washington, a Mike Fisher shot flew out of play, and bounced off the glass behind the Senators' bench, and struck Leclaire in the head. His condition was evaluated today, and reportedly, the Sens' starting goaltender has a broken left cheekbone, and will require surgery that will keep him out of the lineup for up to four weeks.
The loss of their starting goalie is ill-timed for a Senators team who have just now found their stride, recording their fourth straight win with the overtime win over Washington on Monday, vaulting themselves into first place in the Northeast Division. With Leclaire out of the lineup, it will be up to second year goaltender Brian Elliott to carry the weight. Elliott has accounted well for himself so far, with a 4-1-2 record so far; and did well last year, going 16-8-3, after being called up at a time when the Senators' goaltending situation in Ottawa was so dire that Johnny Bower was being considered as a viable option in goal.
Leclaire's injury comes when the pieces were appearing poised to fall back into place for the Senators lineup, as Anton Volchenkov is now practicing with the team, and expected to return soon; and with Alexei Kovalev expected to return in time for Wednesday's road game versus New Jersey (7:30pm ET ; TSN 2 TV; Team 1200 Radio).
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