The Ottawa Senators will not have forwards Daniel Alfredsson and Mike Fisher in their lineup for the forseeable future, as head coach and general manager Bryan Murray told reporters Friday that both players have knee injuries and will be out for "weeks."
Making things worse for Ottawa's captain is a head injury suffered after a hit by Toronto Maple Leafs forward Mark Bell on Thursday night, identified by the team as an upper body injury.
"I'm a little sore today and I'm going to miss a little bit of time here," Alfredsson told reporters on Friday. "Obviously it's a bad time of the year and very frustrating, but I'll try to get back as quick as I can and go from there."
Alfredsson recorded a pair of assists before being leveled by Bell late in the first period. He headed to the locker room after receiving a shoulder to his head and returned for one shift early in the second before calling it a night.
"I don't know if it's a head shot or not, but I think it's more my responsibility to be aware of where everybody is on the ice," Alfredsson said.
Fisher, who suffered his knee injury after a hit from Bell on his second shift of the game, had a much more detailed assessment. "It's dirty for sure," he told reporters on Friday. "A hit like that - where he came from behind him and took his head off - he's wearing a birdcage it's not really cool."
The 36-year-old Swede has missed 11 games this season with back problems and groin injuries. Murray, who questioned the hit on Alfredsson after the game on Thursday, said it was time to move on and focus on Friday's game.
"The league doesn't agree with me and it doesn't matter at this point in time," Murray said Friday.
"I hear on the Toronto radio station they got their pound of flesh and they did. But it doesn't matter if Mark Bell is suspended or not, it doesn't affect us anyway and I could care less. I just wanted to get an opinion from the league and they said it was a legal hit."
