Boucher fears possible 'disaster' after losing Hoffman, Stone, Wingels

Guy Boucher didn't sound overly optimistic about his trio of Ottawa Senators forwards that suffered injuries in Sunday's loss to the Winnipeg Jets.

Mike Hoffman, Mark Stone, and Tommy Wingels were all forced to exit the game. The Senators were already short-staffed up front with the injury to Bobby Ryan, who was ruled out indefinitely before Sunday's contest after taking a shot off his hand in Saturday's win over the Toronto Maple Leafs.

“Tough day with the loss of Bobby and then we lost another bunch of guys," the Senators head coach lamented to reporters postgame, including Postmedia's Bruce Garrioch.

"At some point I felt, there was nobody on the bench," Boucher added. "I can give you an update – it doesn’t look good. We have to wait until tomorrow to be clear and precise about all these guys."

While repeatedly cautioning that the team needed more time to determine the extent of the injuries, Boucher was clearly preparing for the worst.

“Right now, we could be losing quite a few guys … It looks like a disaster," he said. "We’ll see tomorrow and maybe the disaster is not as bad as we think, but you’ve got to be ready for anything.”

Hoffman left late in the first period with what the team would only dub a "lower-body" injury.

Stone was the recipient of a third-period headshot from Jets defenseman Jacob Trouba.

“It (was) a clear hit to the head with the shoulder,” Boucher argued. “(Stone is) one of the best players in the league and I think everybody saw the same thing.”

Wingels departed the Senators' bench several minutes after the Trouba-Stone hit, leaving Ottawa with only eight forwards, having started the game with 11.

Ottawa's injury woes come at a particularly inopportune time as the club is about to embark on a four-game road trip that begins Tuesday night in New Jersey.

Sunday's loss prevented the Senators from tying the Montreal Canadiens' point total atop the Atlantic Division, but they still have two games in hand.