While the Washington Capitals defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 3-2 in their bubble debut, there was one concerning matter to address afterward. The Caps lost John Carlson midway through the third period after the Norris Trophy finalist tripped and fell awkwardly into the end boards.

Carlson skated off under his own power. Eventually, he retreated to the locker room and did not return.

John Carlson did not finish the exhibition game after this awkward tumble into the boards pic.twitter.com/tySrXzni7J

— Ian Oland (@ianoland) July 29, 2020

The incident happened with 14:53 remaining in the third period. Carly would took one more shift for 34 seconds before leaving for good with 9:59 remaining on the clock.

“He just got tangled up there. He kinda fell awkwardly,” Capitals head coach Todd Reirden said after the game. “Obviously, in a situation like this, it’s best to just have him leave. We’ll see how’s doing later tonight and tomorrow and move forward from there. I’ll have a little bit more of an update for you then.”

Carlson, a first pairing defenseman, had a career-best season in 2019-20, setting career highs in assists (60) and points (75) and tying a career-high in goals (15).

The Capitals will next practice Thursday at 12:15 PM.

Full RMNB Coverage of Caps vs Canes

Headline photo: Cara Bahniuk/RMNB