The Washington Capitals got in a noon practice at Amerant Bank Arena on Friday, a day before they’ll do battle with the Florida Panthers in that same building. Veteran forward TJ Oshie did not skate with the team after being forced to crawl off the ice in serious pain on Thursday night in Tampa due to a non-contact injury he suffered in the third period.
Head coach Spencer Carbery met with media after the practice and gave a brief update on Oshie’s status. The exact prognosis seems to still be up in the air.
“Obviously left the game and we’ll just continue to monitor him,” Carbery said. “I don’t think this is, you know, skating today or tomorrow situation. I don’t want to tell you anything definitively on timeline or anything like that. We’ll just continue to monitor him.”
Carbery was then asked whether or not that meant that the injury was less serious than what was initially feared.
“Yes and no,” he said. “It’s just too early to tell. We’re just monitoring him and we’ll know more in the near future.”
The injury occurred with 8:06 remaining in regulation of the Capitals’ eventual 5-3 win over Tampa Bay. Oshie curled with the puck in the offensive zone while on a power play, tried to send a pass to Alex Ovechkin at the blueline, and then fell to the ice in clear pain.
The 37-year-old winger needed help onto the team’s bench and then slowly slid down it before hobbling slouched over back to the locker room. He left after skating 16:37 in the game and did not return.
Postgame, tweeted on his X account to try and soothe some of the concern that worried Capitals fans had.
Oshie has missed significant time due to injury over the last few years, notably dealing with recurring back problems that forced him to undergo a procedure on his back last spring. He has missed 17 games so far this season and that tally sounds like it will increase.
Thursday night’s contest was the 996th of Oshie’s career. Before this unfortunate injury, he was scheduled to hit the 1,000-game mark on March 1 against the Philadelphia Flyers.
