Senators’ Jacob Bernard-Docker helped off the ice at skate

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Jacob Bernard-Docker was helped off the ice on Monday. He was grimacing in pain and unable to put weight on his left leg.

Another tough blow in a difficult stretch for the Ottawa Senators.

The Senators defenceman went hard into the boards behind the net after a hit from Zack Ostapchuk midway the skate on at the Bell Sensplex and was sent for further testing while the rest of his teammates headed to Detroit to prepare to face the Red Wings on Tuesday night.

Already shorthanded after veteran Travis Hamonic suffered what appears to be a knee injury, the Senators were hopeful that Bernard-Docker would be OK, but it sure didn’t look that way as he left the ice and went to see the club’s doctors at the Canadian Tire Centre.

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“It sucks. You never want that to happen,” captain Brady Tkachuk said. “Him and (Ostapchuk) were both trying to do the right things by getting on the puck quick and trying to do the drill the right way going into a game.

“Whenever you see something like that accident, it’s really hard to see. I’m really hoping it’s not too bad for (Bernard-Docker) because he works so hard. He does everything right.”

Tkachuk was one of the players that helped Bernard-Docker off the ice, along with Ostapchuk.

“There’s probably a million thoughts that go through his head at a time like that so I just wanted to let him let it all out,” Tkachuk said. “There’s not really a right thing to say in that time.

“When he was going off the ice, everybody was kind of around and offering him support. It just sucks because you never want to see it happen.”

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Bernard-Docker, 24, hadn’t suited up since the club’s loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Dec. 28 and was scratched in three straight games, but he has been a good soldier for this team. He works hard, doesn’t complain and, for the most part, has performed well this season.

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Injuries happen, but when they occur during an innocent battle drill in practice, they can cast a pall over the rest of the skate.

“(Bernard-Docker) is one of my good buddies and I think everybody was pretty shaken up by that,” said centre Shane Pinto, who played with Bernard-Docker at the University of North Dakota. “You never want to see. He works so hard.

“He does all the right things and he’s a good professional. To see that is very upsetting. I haven’t seen him yet but let’s hope he’s doing OK.”

The Senators had recalled defenceman Nikolas Mantinpalo and forward Jan Jenik from their American Hockey League affiliate in Belleville in the morning so it could have extra skaters with four games in six days this week.

That wasn’t the case by the end of the session.

“We’ll know more later in the day,” coach Travis Green said. “You worry about your players, especially when something like that happens and you see a guy get helped off the ice.

“You never like to see your guys get injured and go through pain like that.”

This will be a further test of the club’s depth and Steve Staios, the club’s president of hockey operations and general manager, has been shopping for a blueliner since the club made its final pre-season roster cuts in early October.

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A check with league executives on Monday indicated there aren’t many blueliners available and one told Postmedia the teams that “are in a playoff race want to keep them.”

We’ve stated in this space in the past that the Chicago Blackhawks are trying to move defenceman Seth Jones, but he has a big contract and isn’t a fit for the Senators.

The Pittsburgh Penguins may move 28-year-old defenceman Marcus Pettersson, who is in the final year of his deal, but they are battling for the same wild-card playoff spot that the Senators are trying to get.

The Montreal Canadiens have been trying to move defenceman Jayden Struble, 23, but he doesn’t have a lot of NHL experience and the Habs may not want to help the Senators.

The Columbus Blue Jackets, another team in the hunt for a playoff spot, are looking to move Ivan Provorov.

Since the market for defencemen is thin, Staios has opted to try to let the answers come from within and this group has done as good a job as it can under sometimes difficult circumstances.

Defenceman Artem Zub only just returned from a fractured foot that kept him out for seven weeks and the Senators were preparing to move on without Hamonic for a lengthy stretch.

The club still has options it can turn to in Belleville, including Max Guenette, Donovan Sebrango and Jorian Donovan, but they all have limited or no NHL experience.

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