Barring a historic comeback, the Ottawa Senators are going to lose Game 4 to the New York Rangers. That might not be their biggest loss from Thursday, though.
Erik Karlsson’s been playing hurt - if not injured - during the playoffs, but things might have gotten too extreme for the all-world defenseman tonight.
Now, it’s not totally clear if he suffered a new injury or aggravated an old one, but either way, Karlsson sure seemed uncomfortable late in the second period. (See above.)
He hasn’t appeared in the final frame, a troubling sign for a Senators team that needs big plays and big minutes from Karlsson.
That seems like a lousy sign for Ottawa, but there’s at least some chance that Ottawa decided to give him an extra 20 minutes to heal up to fight another day.
Update: It sounds like the Senators were just playing it safe with Karlsson, though it also sounds like there’s some room for that to change.
Guy Boucher says it's a lower-body injury for Erik Karlsson. Any concern about missing Game 5? "Not for now."
— Amalie Benjamin (@AmalieBenjamin) May 5, 2017
Hey, the playoffs aren’t always ... transparent.