Yahoo Sports Ottawa Senators Center Shane Pinto Says He'll Return Tomorrow Against The Toronto Maple Leafs
As they gear up for a crucial Battle of Ontario matchup, the Ottawa Senators are about to get some reinforcements.
After Monday's practice, center Shane Pinto confirmed to the media that he's ready to return to the lineup for Tuesday's game in Toronto. As one of the Ottawa's best two-way forwards, Pinto not only makes the club's top-nine more dangerous, he helps take heat off of fellow centers Tim Stutzle and Josh Norris.
Pinto says he was injured during a faceoff in the game against the New Jersey Devils on October 17th. He then tried to play through it in the victories over the Tampa Bay Lightning and Utah HC before shutting things down.
"I just felt I needed to give it a few weeks to heal because I didn't want it nagging me the whole year. That would have been tough. So that was the right thing, and I feel like I'm back at a hundred percent. So it's nice."
Pinto skated today with Noah Gregor and Mike Amadio, so that's likely the line he'll be centering tomorrow. Amadio finally got his first goal of the season on Saturday night and has looked his best this season while playing alongside Pinto, a trend that extends back to the pre-season. Pinto says he likes what he sees from Gregor as well.
The game in Toronto will be Pinto's 24th birthday. When reminded about it by reporters, Pinto reacted like he's an old man already, afraid of getting older.
"I don't want it to be my birthday," Pinto said with a laugh. "I think as you get older, even though I'm not that old, every birthday sucks. But yeah, I guess it's nice that it's my birthday tomorrow. But I don't really don't care too much."
Pinto's return will help a lot as the Sens push to avoid yet another bleak start to the season. As far as Sens fans are concerned, that's something that's definitely getting old.
Read more Ottawa Senators coverage at The Hockey News Ottawa.
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