Erik Karlsson of Senators leaves Game 5 against Penguins

PITTSBURGH -- Ottawa Senators defenseman Erik Karlsson said he plans to be in the lineup for Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Final on Tuesday after missing the final 24:05 of Game 5 against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday.

Karlsson said he was held out for precautionary reasons and because the Senators were losing by five goals. He said he could have returned if necessary.
The Senators lost 7-0 against the Penguins, who lead the best-of-7 series 3-2 and can advance to the Stanley Cup Final with another victory in Ottawa on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, TVA Sports).
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"The score was not what we wanted, and not only me but we decided to shorten down minutes a bit and move on and get ready for the next game," said Karlsson, who is the Senators captain.
In addition, center Derick Brassard and defenseman Cody Ceci did not return for the third period. Senators coach Guy Boucher said it was rest for all of them and they could have come back if necessary.
Karlsson, who has been playing with two hairline fractures in his left heel, had the same thing happen to him in Game 4 against the New York Rangers in the second round. Ottawa was losing 3-0 after 40 minutes and the Senators decided against bringing Karlsson back out for the third.

He did not miss any time after that.
"It's the same as against the Rangers," Karlsson said. "Same mentality. Same thing."
Karlsson's last shift ended with 5:55 remaining in the second period. During that shift, he got tangled with Penguins forward Scott Wilson in the defensive zone. Karlsson went to the dressing room during a television timeout with 3:45 left and did not return.
Brassard went to the dressing room shortly after getting hit by Penguins forward Chris Kunitz at 12:13 of the second period. He returned to play one more 56-second shift before the end of the period but did not come back out for the third.
It was unclear what, if anything, happened to Ceci.
"I think we all need to move on from this game pretty quick," Karlsson said. "Sometimes it's wrong to say, but I'd rather lose like this than in overtime. I don't think we played the way we needed to to be in this game. They certainly did. We know this is not acceptable and we have to move on from it."