Caps grapple with injuries: ‘We’re almost getting used to it’ originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
WASHINGTON — The Capitals knew their depth was going to be tested early this season, but just 11 games into the 2022-23 campaign they already have enough players sidelined with injury to jumpstart a 33rd NHL franchise.
Following Tuesday’s 3-2 overtime loss to the Vegas Golden Knights that saw yet another player exit early when winger Beck Malenstyn suffered an upper-body injury using his 6-foot-3 frame to block a shot, the Capitals have eight different players with an injury designation:
F Beck Malenstyn (upper body, being evaluated)
D John Carlson (lower body, day-to-day)
D Alex Alexeyev (shoulder, conditioning loan)
F T.J. Oshie (lower body, out indefinitely)
F Connor Brown (ACL, out 6-8 months)
F Carl Hagelin (eye/hip, out indefinitely)
F Tom Wilson (ACL, mid-December or later)
F Nicklas Backstrom (hip, out indefinitely)
Should both Malenstyn and Carlson miss the Capitals’ next game — Thursday against the Detroit Red Wings — Washington will have to use all three of its scratches on injured players unless the team calls someone up from Hershey. The Capitals have already had to dip into their AHL well once, but now even the call-ups (Malenstyn) are getting hurt.
“It is a lot obviously,” center Dylan Strome said Tuesday. “Try not to think about it too much, try to go out there and stay healthy as best you can, knock on wood. Kind of next man up mentality. Lots of great players getting hurt and it is never good to see. Those are the players that you battle with every day, day in and day out and guys that are playing well too. It sucks to see. Hopefully a lot of the guys aren’t long-term.”
The overtime loss to Vegas marked the third game this season the Capitals have had to play down a man — or two — after a player was forced to leave early. As a result, other skaters have to take extra shifts to fill the holes. Winger Marcus Johansson set a new season high with 20:01 of ice time Tuesday, the highest among Capitals forwards in the game.
“I think everyone is different when it comes to [extra playing time due to injuries],” Johansson said. “Some guys, it’s good to get a few more minutes. Some guys who already play a lot, it’s not. You always want to have all of your guys [healthy and] out there. It’s always tough to see someone go down early but that’s part of it. We’re almost getting used to it at this point. It was tough to see that from the start, especially on a back-to-back night, to go down a guy right away.”
Despite the number of losses they’ve endured, the Capitals have still managed to stay afloat. They picked up a point on both ends of a back-to-back with the Carolina Hurricanes and Golden Knights, though they had the lead in regulation during both games and let it slip away. In all, the Capitals go into their off day Wednesday with a 5-4-2 record and 12 points on the season.
Nobody has emerged as an early frontrunner in the Metropolitan Division, putting the Capitals firmly in the mix if they can go on a run. The prospects of them playing their best hockey right now are low with so many regular contributors out of commission, but the Capitals will have to work with who they have available until they can start to get some reinforcements.
“It’s tough to say,” Johansson said of whether he’s been through a situation before like the one the Capitals face. “It’s definitely hurting us a little bit. We’re missing some good, key pieces to this team. But there’s no excuse. We battled hard and we think we played two good games but, unfortunately, we couldn’t come out with more than two points.”
