It does not appear that Pascal Leclaire will be returning to the Ottawa Senators crease any time soon.
The netminder’s recovery from a groin injury is not progressing well, according to head coach Cory Clouston. Leclaire has not skated for the past three days, indicating a small setback in his rehabilitation process.
“He’s basically stagnated. Until he feels better the next day, he’s not going to go out on the ice,” explained Clouston on Thursday morning. “If that’s a setback, then yes.”
Leclaire suffered the injury in the first period of a 3-2 win over Carolina on October 14th. He had been skating on his own last week, but now he is limited to doing off-ice exercises.
Brian Elliott will make his sixth consecutive start in goal for the Senators Thursday night, as they host the Florida Panthers. Leclaire’s questionable status for at least the next 7-10 days means that rookie Robin Lehner may get a chance to start his first NHL game at some point in the near future.
“We’ll play it by ear. Right now, Brian’s playing well so there’s no reason to look to anything other than just playing Brian,” added Clouston.