Senators give positive update on defenseman who exited on stretcher

Ottawa Senators defenseman Erik Brannstrom is taken off the ice on a stretcher Dennis Schneidler-USA TODAY Sports

Senators give positive update on defenseman who left game on stretcher

By Adam Gretz | Last updated 10/26/23

There was a scary moment in the second period of Tuesday's New York Islanders-Ottawa Senators game when Senators defenseman Erik Brannstrom had to leave the game on a stretcher following a hit from Cal Clutterbuck.

He was transported to a local hospital for further evaluation, but the Senators did have some subsequent positive news on his status.

The team announced that Brannstrom was alert and had movement in all of his extremities.

Injury update: After sustaining injury in tonight's second period, #Sens defenceman Erik Brannstrom is alert, has use of his extremities and has been transported to local hospital for further evaluation.
— Sens Communications (@Media_Sens) October 27, 2023

The play happened as Brannstrom was skating with the puck through the neutral zone and checked hard into the boards by Clutterbuck. During the process of that check, Brannstrom's head hit the ice and he remained down for an extended period of time as trainers worked on him.

Clutterbuck is one of the NHL's biggest hitters but has typically been a pretty clean player. Extremely physical, but hardly a track record of overly dirty hits. This hit seemed to be a touch late and obviously ended up with an unfortunate result.

There was no penalty called on the play.

Clutterbuck said after the game that he was sick to his stomach over the result of the play.

Brannstrom was the No. 15 overall pick in the 2017 NHL Draft by the Vegas Golden Knights. He was traded to Ottawa in 2019 in the trade that sent Mark Stone to Vegas.

The 24-year-old defenseman has appeared in 196 regular-season games in his NHL career, scoring four goals to go with 49 total points.

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