During rush hour Wednesday afternoon, the Capitals announced that defenseman Karl Alzner underwent successful surgery to repair a sports hernia. Alzner suffered a torn groin injury in the playoffs, which kept him on the bench for most of the Caps’ season-ending loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Alzner played just two shifts early in the second period before being pulled from Game Six.

The initial injury seemed to have occurred during the first round series against the Flyers but progressively grew worse.

“I know that the first four games of the (Penguins) series, I was just out there filling a spot,” Alzner said during breakdown day. “I was out there and I was not hurting the team I don’t think, but I also wasn’t helping in winning in the game. That’s when you know you can still do things, but once I’m getting beat up the ice trying to chase a guy and not able to at least stay in battles, that’s when you know it’s time.”

It’s uncertain how long the injury will keep Alzner out though the Caps believe the bearded wonder should be completely healthy prior to the start of the regular season.

Brooks Laich was the most recent Capital to have sports hernia surgery. According to the Washington Post, putting a timeline on the recovery can be tricky. From Katie Carrera:

Sports hernia surgery, which has historically been viewed as a last resort by the Capitals organization, creates a four- to six-week recovery timeline for one of hockey’s most unpredictable injuries. Laich’s procedure took place “within a few days” of when the 29-year-old re-injured his groin on April 4, the source said, which would put him roughly three weeks along in the rehabilitation process.

Here’s hoping Karl will be fine and back on the ice for the first day of training camp.

Here’s the Caps’ full release:

ARLINGTON, Va. – Karl Alzner underwent a successful sport hernia repair of the pelvic floor on Wednesday morning. Based on the nature of this procedure, we are confident that Karl will be completely healthy prior to the start of the 2016-17 regular season