The Washington Capitals finally snapped their seven-game losing streak, but they had to do it without center Lars Eller, who left the game in the second period.
Details are scarce, but the Capitals have disclosed that the injury was lower body in nature.
#Caps Lars Eller will not return to tonight’s game (lower body) #CapsFlames
— CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) February 2, 2019
Eller skated a light load in the first period (4:31) and only two shifts in the second period, exiting just six minutes in. There were no apparent collisions in his final shift that might suggest the nature of the injury.
After the game, Todd Reirden did not elaborate, but the head coach would Eller be further evaluated and an update will be given tomorrow.
Reirden didn’t have much of an update on Eller. Asked if it could be a long-term injury, Reirden said he doesn’t *think* so and is hopeful they “caught it” early, but he didn’t want to say too much without talking more with the trainers.
— Isabelle Khurshudyan (@ikhurshudyan) February 2, 2019
With one center missing, Evgeny Kuznetsov picked up a lot of slack, skating a season-high 24:36, including more than four minutes with Eller’s ersatz linemates, Dmitrij Jaskin and Brett Connolly.
Full RMNB Coverage of Caps vs Flames
Headline photo: Patrick McDermott
