Moments ago, Travis Green said Senators center Nick Cousins is "not doing great" after Jakob Chychrun's hit.
Chychrun leveled Cousins late in the third period tonight in Ottawa, and the Capitals went on to win 3-2 in overtime. The Senators leave the building with a loss and a bigger worry.
Julian McKenzie passed along Green's words after the game, and they are short and blunt.
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Nothing more has been shared on Cousins' condition. We don't know if he returned to the game, and Green's comment is all we have for now. The injury report lists nothing for him as of this writing.
Cousins went down on the ice after the collision, and the officials went to the replay. Gino Hard noted that the play was reviewed for a major, but no penalty was assessed in the end.
We first told you about Chychrun's hit on Cousins while the game was still being played. The scene was ugly then, and Green's quote does nothing to calm it.
Should Chychrun's hit have been a major?
A review for a major that ends with nothing on the scoresheet is a hard one to explain. A player went down, the referees went to the monitor, and the Senators got no power play out of it. Ottawa will have a legitimate complaint about that.
The size difference is easy to see. Chychrun is a 6'2, 215-pound defenseman, and Cousins is a 5'11, 190-pound center who is 33 years old. Cousins has 42 penalty minutes in 18 games this season, so he plays the physical, in-your-face style that invites contact.
Chychrun has 14 penalty minutes in 15 games himself, so neither player is a stranger to the rough stuff. Still, a hit that sends the other guy to the ice and draws a replay look gets people talking, and Green's words keep it going.
The loss leaves Ottawa at 11-6-2. The Senators host the Avalanche on Thursday, while Washington visits New Jersey the same day. Whether Cousins is available for that game is the question nobody can answer tonight.
More to come.
Quick hits
ST. LOUIS BLUES: Jeremy Rutherford flagged a big scrum at the final horn of the Blues' 3-2 win over the Red Wings, and goalie Joel Hofer came over to get involved. Goalies leaving the crease for a pile-up always get attention.
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DETROIT RED WINGS: Moritz Seider's late goal wasn't enough in a 3-2 loss in St. Louis. Detroit has now dropped four straight, and that is a losing streak that starts to hurt.
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MONTREAL CANADIENS: Martin St-Louis and Josh Anderson both pushed back after the 2-1 overtime loss to the Wild. Neither held much back on a late slashing call, and the coach clearly saw it differently than the officials.
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COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS: Mark Scheig says the problem in a 4-1 loss to the Panthers at Nationwide Arena is the offense and the pressure on the top players. Columbus needs its best forwards to answer.
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COLORADO AVALANCHE: Gabriel Landeskog scored twice as the Avalanche beat the Maple Leafs 6-3 in Toronto. Colorado heads to Ottawa for Thursday's game with plenty of momentum.
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This article was written with the help of artificial intelligence, based on public reports and official sources.
Should Jakob Chychrun have been given a major for his hit on Nick Cousins?
Also read on Markerzone.com:
Jakob Chychrun's big hit on Nick Cousins sparks ugly scene in Ottawa
