Washington Capitals head coach Todd Reirden would not say if John Carlson will play in the Caps’ first round-robin game against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday.

Reirden spoke to reporters on Zoom before the team’s scheduled practice where Carlson was expected to participate.

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“I haven’t seen John yet today with the later practice time,” Reirden said. “Last night, he got some more treatment and continues to head in the right direction. I’m planning on him being a part of practice today.”

Carlson did not finish the team’s exhibition game on Wednesday after an awkward fall into the end boards. Carlson missed practice on Thursday before returning to the ice on Saturday.

“He’s such an important part of our team,” Reirden said. “For that matter, any member of our team, we’re not going to put them in a situation where… something [could] go wrong or reaggravate [an] injury that would potentially cause a chance for him to miss Round 1. So we’ll do the thing that’s right for the player and for the team. We wouldn’t put him out there in a situation where anything could become worse because he’s such a large part of our team. Obviously, a guy that had a tremendous year and a huge part of our blue line.”

Update: John Carlson will be a game-time decision against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Carlson will be a game-time decision for the #Caps today vs. TBL, per Reirden.

— Tarik El-Bashir (@Tarik_ElBashir) August 3, 2020