Washington Capitals head coach Peter Laviolette announced before Saturday’s Game Three that Tom Wilson will miss his second straight game due to a lower-body injury.

When asked if Wilson was available, Laviolette said simply, “no.”

In regards to the lineup overall, the bench boss added, “We’re working on some things in the room. There are some things we’re working on in there.”

Wilson has only played a little over a minute in the Caps-Panthers series due to the injury. He appeared to get hurt in the first period of Game One after trying to land a big hit on MacKenzie Weegar behind the net.

The 28-year-old winger slowly made his way to the bench and went down to the locker room. He then briefly came back to take a swirl around the ice during a TV timeout in the second period but ultimately decided he could not return. He has not practiced since.

106.7 The Fan’s Grant Paulsen said on Friday that “a little birdie chirping” told him that Wilson has a “pretty serious” injury. Paulsen has contributed to The Athletic and NBC Sports Washington’s coverage in the past.

“I don’t think he’s playing again this series,” Paulsen said. “I’ve heard he’s got a pretty serious knee injury that he’s dealing with and it’s gonna be a while. So, my guess is we’ve seen him for the last time — certainly in this series, maybe for the playoffs.”

Paulsen added, “That’s what I’m hearing. I’m not going hard in the paint. No reports. I don’t need a bunch of people on NHL.com citing 106.7 The Fan. What I’m telling you is just a little birdie chirping, a little rumbling, a little thing that I heard. I’m not going to go into specifics or details.”

Headline photo: Amanda Bowen/RMNB