Senators stunned after Jets' Stanley sucker punches Tkachuk

The Ottawa Senators were furious after Winnipeg Jets defenseman Logan Stanley sucker punched captain Brady Tkachuk during a scrum in Saturday night's contest.

The two players got entangled in front of the Senators' bench before Stanley landed a punch on Tkachuk while the refs tried to separate them.

Tkachuk, still hampered by a thumb injury sustained earlier this season, is unable to fight and must wear a protective brace. As a result of the altercation, officials assessed Stanley with two roughing minors and handed Tkachuk a 10-minute misconduct for his reaction.

"I will probably choose my words wisely," head coach Travis Green said, according to Postmedia's Bruce Garrioch.

"If the refs had to do it again and call it again, they'd probably make a different call. You never like to see a guy get suckered in the face. It's unfortunate. We're lucky he came back. He's an All-Star player. I'm sure their team wouldn't be happy if (Kyle) Connor got suckered in the face and there was just a two-minute minor for roughing."

Forward Claude Giroux was at a loss for words on the incident.

"You don't like to see that stuff happening," he said. "I don't know if Stanley thought he was in a fight. I seriously don't know what to say."

Tkachuk returned to the contest after his misconduct, helping the Senators secure a 4-2 victory to hand the Jets their ninth consecutive loss.

The two clubs don't meet again this season.