On Wednesday, Jay Beagle suffered a freak upper body injury against the Buffalo Sabres. Head coach Barry Trotz said after the game Beagle would be out “for an extended period of time.”

This morning, the Caps gave an update on the third-line center’s condition.

Jay Beagle underwent a successful surgery on his hand this morning. Based on the nature of this procedure, we anticipate Jay returning to full hockey activities in six weeks. Jay will resume full workout activities next week.

That timeline would put Beagle back in a Caps uniform around the second week of February.

The injury occurred in the second period against the Sabres. As Beagle skated around Buffalo’s net, he put his left arm out to mark defenseman Jake McCabe. Between then and when he extended his hand towards the boards, Beagle sustained the injury. He immediately skated off the ice while bent over in pain and headed to the locker room.

Saturday night against Columbus, Beagle– who has been placed on IR — will miss his second consecutive game. Marcus Johansson has taken his spot at center and will skate between Jason Chimera and Tom Wilson.

#Caps lines this morning: 8-19-77, 65-92-14, 25-90-43, 21-23-46.

— Mike Vogel (@VogsCaps) January 2, 2016