In the second period of Monday’s game against the San Jose Sharks, Capitals forward TJ Oshie left the game after getting his head rammed into the boards during a hit from Joe Thornton. After missing practice and being listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury, Oshie will miss Wednesday night’s game against the Chicago Blackhawks.
Alex Chiasson is slated to replace Oshie in the lineup.
As expected #Caps lines at morning skate were:
Ovechkin-Backstrom-Wilson
Vrana-Kuznetsov-Chiasson
Connolly-Eller-Boyd
Stephenson-Beagle-SmithPellyBraden Holtby starts in goal. ScratchesL: Graovac, Chorney scratches. T.J. Oshie won't play.
— Brian McNally (@bmcnally14) December 6, 2017
According to head coach Barry Trotz, Oshie worked with the team’s trainers in the morning, but was unsure if he’d practice Thursday.
T.J. Oshie (upper body/day-to-day) did not take the morning skate and won’t face the #Blackhawks. He did work w/ #Caps trainers this a.m. and will do so again tonight. Still unclear when he’ll return to the ice. Andre Burakovsky could return as soon as Friday vs. the #Rangers. pic.twitter.com/ISIWyLQEnL
— Tarik El-Bashir (@TarikNBCS) December 6, 2017
“He’s going through some different things with our trainers,” Trotz said. “He did some stuff with them this morning. He’ll do some stuff tonight. If they feel like he can come on the ice tomorrow, he will.”
Oshie missed 14 games last season as a result of an undisclosed injury that some team members called a concussion. The Caps will likely feel the weight of Oshie’s absence. The forward is currently second on the team in goals (10) behind Alex Ovechkin, and third in points (23).
The Sharks’ Joe Thornton received no supplementary disciplinary action from the NHL for the hit against Oshie. San Jose’s Brenden Dillon was suspended Tuesday night for one game as a consequence of his two-handed slash against Caps defenseman Madison Bowey in the same game.
Headline photo: Patrick Smith
