Ottawa Senators lose Shane Pinto to injury in 4-2 loss to New York Rangers

Ottawa Senators' Dylan Cozens (24) falls to the ice as he fights for possession of the puck against New York Rangers' Vladislav Gavrikov (44) during second period NHL hockey action in Ottawa, on Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Spencer Colby

OTTAWA — The Ottawa Senators added another name to their injury list Thursday when Shane Pinto was forced to leave in the first period of a 4-2 loss to the New York Rangers due to a lower-body injury.

Pinto fell to the ice after being checked along the boards by New York centre Mika Zibanejad. Pinto appeared to be in some discomfort as he skated back to the bench.

“We’ll know more (Friday),” said head coach Travis Green. “I’m hoping it’s not going to be too long.”

Already without injured defenceman Thomas Chabot, the Senators also did not have forward Lars Eller or defenceman Artem Zub available against the Rangers.

Chabot is on injured reserve while Eller and Zub are day to day.

Pinto, meanwhile, has been one of Ottawa’s best forwards this season with 12 goals and six assists over 26 games. His absence was noticeable.

“You lose a player like that, the year he’s having, how reliable he is to play against the other teams’ top guys every night,” said Senators forward Drake Batherson. “So, we’re hoping he’s OK and it’s not too bad.”

Senators forward Brady Tkachuk missed 20 games this season due to a hand injury that required surgery. Ottawa fell to 1-3-0 since the captain returned to the lineup.

The Senators are hoping to repeat the strong showing they had last December (9-3-1), which helped them build momentum heading into the second half of the season.

After going 1-for-12 with the man advantage over the last five games, both Ottawa goals came on the power play. But overall, the Senators couldn’t match the Rangers’ steady play.

“I definitely think there is some lapses at some points,” said Tkachuk. “They pushed and in those parts of the game, I think we can learn a lot from (that). But I think that (in) the second half we got back to our game ... and we learn and we get better because of it.”

Green agreed with Tkachuk’s assessment and said he liked the way his team pushed back.

“They came out, they had a good first eight minutes of the period and had us on our heels a little bit,” Green said. ‘We got some momentum from the penalty kill and played well the back half of that period.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 5, 2025.

Lisa Wallace, The Canadian Press