Oshie out indefinitely, Carlson day to day with lower-body injuries originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
The Capitals will be down both winger T.J. Oshie and defenseman John Carlson for Monday’s game against the Carolina Hurricanes after they exited Washington’s 3-0 win over the Nashville Predators with lower-body injuries.
Oshie is expected to be sidelined indefinitely and Carlson is designated as day-to-day, according to a team spokesperson. Just nine games into the 2022-23 season, the Capitals are already dealing with long-term injuries to skaters Oshie, Connor Brown (lower body), Tom Wilson (knee), Nicklas Backstrom (hip) and Carl Hagelin (eye/hip).
The Washington Post’s Samantha Pell reported Monday that forward Connor McMichael and defensemen Matt Irwin were on the Capitals’ lines at morning skate in Raleigh. McMichael was the second-line winger alongside Marcus Johansson and Evgeny Kuznetsov. Irwin, who has yet to appear in a game this season, paired up with Erik Gustafsson while Trevor van Riemsdyk moved up to Carlson’s spot opposite Dmitry Orlov on the top blue line.
For Oshie, the injury is the latest in a series of ailments that have kept him off the ice for nearly 38% of the Capitals games since the start of the 2020-21 season. The 35-year-old has been effective when healthy, but he is now set to miss significant time for the third year in a row.
Carlson’s outlook is much more optimistic, a notable development following his awkward tumble into the boards Saturday.
However, the injuries come at a bad time for the Capitals. They take on the reigning Metropolitan Division champion Hurricanes on the road Monday before heading back home for a date with the red-hot Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday. Overall, they play five games in the next eight days and 11 over the next 20.
