The Washington Capitals will be without Sonny Milano for a good chunk of time to conclude the season.
Milano did not take the ice at practice for the Capitals’ morning skate in Pittsburgh on Saturday.
The team told traveling beat reporters, including The Athletic’s Tarik El-Bashir, that the third-line forward will be out for a week and possibly more due to an upper-body injury.
That diagnosis will see Milano miss the Caps’ game against Pittsburgh tonight and back-to-back games against the Islanders (3/29) and the Tampa Bay Lightning (3/30). The Capitals also have a Sunday, April 2 game against the New York Rangers (day eight of Milano’s recovery) before a three-day break in the schedule which sees Washington close the week against Montreal (4/6) and Florida (4/8).
The injury means Nicolas Aube-Kubel will get back into the Capitals lineup.
Milano did not miss any time during the Capitals’ 6-1 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday, but the winger did absorb a lot of physicality in the first period. A hit from Connor Murphy caused him to return to the bench slowly.
NHL.com’s play-by-play shows that Milano absorbed three bodychecks alone in the first stanza of the game including Mike Hardman (9:07), Lukas Reichel (15:03), and Connor Murphy (19:43).
Milano is a week removed from missing two straight games due to illness (NYR, 3/14; BUF, 3/15). He returned March 17 against the St. Louis Blues forcing Anthony Mantha out of the lineup.
After not being signed by an NHL team during the offseason, Milano earned a spot with the Capitals after impressing in Hershey. He’s become a regular in the lineup and has posted 32 points (11g, 21a) in 58 games.
Headline photo: Ian Oland/RMNB
