Senators lose Brady Tkachuk to freak injury with playoff lives on the line.

The Ottawa Senators are in an extremely hotly contested Eastern Conference Wild Card race and it now appears as though the final stretch of that race may not include their captain, Brady Tkachuk.

Tkachuk and the Senators faced off against the New York Islanders on Saturday in what was a must-win playoff game for both teams, and it was during that game's second period that Tkachuk would suffer something of a freak injury.

Tkachuk was skating back towards the Senators bench when Islanders defenseman Ryan Pulock came leaping over the boards right into Tkachuk's path. There appeared to be some minor contact between the two men as Pulock came over the bench, not even enough to truly call it a collision, but it was obvious immediately that something was wrong with Tkachuk. The Senators captain immediately slumped over against the boards as if he had just nearly lost consciousness, and Tkachuk would struggle to make his way back to the bench.

Here is a look at the replay:

Tkachuk did attempt to return to the ice during the second period but would head back to the Senators locker room and did so again in the third period, but again Tkachuk would quickly leave the game.

The obvious concern here is some type of head injury, which could be explained by Tkachuk fighting earlier in the game, but it's too early to tell given how strange this entire situation appears to be.