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The Ottawa Senators will give captain Erik Karlsson all the time he needs to grieve.

After the Senators announced Tuesday that Karlsson and his wife, Melinda, had lost their unborn child, the couple issued an Instagram statement of their own on Wednesday.

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tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Erik and Melinda Karlsson issue statement about loss of stillborn son, Axel Back to video

“At this extremely difficult time, it’s hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel, but we do know one day we’ll get there,” the statement read. “We would like to thank everyone for the love and support we have received and also for respecting our privacy and the process we need to go through.

“We feel very lucky to be Axel’s parents. Even though he was stillborn, we know we will hold him again one day under different circumstances and the joy he gave us will be with us forever.”

The devastating news hit the community hard and left a hollow feeling in the Senators dressing room.

Hours after hearing the news, there was no way the Senators could skate away from the tragedy and they lost handily, 7-2, to the Florida Panthers on Tuesday night. At times, Senators players seemed to lose their focus while chasing the puck around the ice.