Home / News / With Nic Dowd and Richard Panik close to returning, Capitals send Liam O’Brien back to Hershey

With Nic Dowd and Richard Panik close to returning, Capitals send Liam O’Brien back to Hershey

By Ian Oland

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November 6, 2019 2:29 pm

The Washington Capitals have not played since Sunday and since then, the team has gotten healthier.

Richard Panik, who’s on longterm injured reserve due to an upper-body injury that he suffered on October 16, returned to the ice Tuesday for practice and shed his no-contact jersey. Meanwhile, Nic Dowd is nearing a return after suffering a lower-body injury against the Leafs on October 29.

Since he was put on LTIR, Panik can’t re-join the Capitals until Monday when the Capitals play his former, the Arizona Coyotes.

Dowd will join the Capitals on their flight to Sunrise for their game against the Florida Panthers Thursday night and be a game-time decision.

“He continues to progress,” Capitals head coach Todd Reirden said after practice on Wednesday. “We’ll see how the lineup is tomorrow. He’s traveling with us and as long as everything’s okay for tomorrow then he’ll be a game-time decision. We’ll [choose who plays] on who suits our lineup the best.”

With potentially two extra forwards on the roster, the Capitals opted to send down Liam O’Brien back down to Hershey. The Big Tuna spent five days in Washington but did not play in any games. O’Brien was one of the Capitals’ best players during the preseason.

More from the Capitals:

ARLINGTON, Va. – The Washington Capitals have re-assigned forward Liam O’Brien to the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League (AHL), senior vice president and general manager Brian MacLellan announced today.

O’Brien, 24, has registered two points (one goal, one assist) and 28 penalty minutes in 17 career games with the Capitals. The 6’1”, 215-pound forward made his NHL debut on Oct. 9, 2014 against Montreal, earned his first NHL point with an assist on Oct. 14, 2014 against San Jose and scored his first career NHL goal on Oct. 26, 2014 at Vancouver.

This year with Hershey, the Halifax, Nova Scotia, native has three goals in nine games and ranks second on the Bears with 13 penalty minutes.

In 74 games with Hershey last season, O’Brien recorded 28 points (15g, 13a), ranked fifth on the team in goals and second in penalty minutes (118).

O’Brien has earned 111 points (56g, 55a) and 568 penalty minutes in 320 career AHL games with Hershey.

O’Brien signed with Washington as a free agent on Oct. 6, 2014 and re-signed on June 10, 2019.

Headline photo: NHL

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