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Gonchar (lower-body) joins Spezza on Sens’ sidelines

sergeigonchargetty

The Ottawa Senators look like they’ll be shorthanded against the Montreal Canadiens in Wednesday’s upcoming game. Jason Spezza (back) is set to miss his second game in a row and now the team announced that Sergei Gonchar will be sidelined with a lower-body injury.

It’s unclear how serious the issue is and the team didn’t elaborate about how he got banged up.

The Russian blueliner might have lost a step or two at 38, yet he’s still an important piece of the puzzle in Ottawa. Only Erik Karlsson’s 26:49 minutes per game tops Sergei Gonchar’s 23:34 time on ice (although Marc Methot is close behind at 23:38).

Gonchar has a goal and three assists for four points in six games so far this season.

With Spezza, 29, and Gonchar on the sidelines, Ottawa likely hopes to get a boost from Mika Zibanejad. The 19-year-old forward collected an assist in his season debut on Tuesday.