With just three games remaining before the March 8 trade deadline, the Washington Capitals’ potential last gasp effort to still remain in the playoff conversation comes Friday against the Philadelphia Flyers. Philadelphia is currently in the third and final Metropolitan Division playoff spot, sitting five points ahead of the New Jersey Devils and six in front of the Caps.
The Capitals will go into the contest severely banged up, with several players out of the lineup and on injured reserve. Head coach Spencer Carbery gave a slew of updates on his black and blue roster during his post-practice media availability on Thursday.
The Capitals are expected to get defenseman Nick Jensen and winger Sonny Milano back against the Flyers. Carbery believes that if they are deemed good to go after Thursday’s skate, both will “hopefully” be in the lineup.
Jensen missed the last two games with a lower-body injury after careening awkwardly into the boards against the Florida Panthers late last week. Milano was also absent for the last two games due to an illness.
As of Thursday, Martin Fehervary, Nic Dowd, and TJ Oshie all remain on injured reserve. Fehervary and Dowd appear to be much further ahead than Oshie in terms of making their way back to active duty.
“[Fehervary and Dowd] skated this morning before practice,” Carbery said. “We’ll see where that goes. I wouldn’t expect them tomorrow. Trending in the right direction.”
Fehervary has not played since February 17 after he suffered a lower-body injury against the Montreal Canadiens. Dowd was injured on February 20 against the New Jersey Devils after taking a high hit from Devils forward Timo Meier.
Oshie was officially listed as “week-to-week” by the team earlier this week after he went down with a non-contact injury against the Tampa Bay Lightning on February 22. The veteran winger was present inside MedStar Capitals Iceplex but only in an off-ice role.
“[Oshie] did not skate,” Carbery said. “I think he’s progressing. I just don’t know to what extent as far as playing and practicing.”
The Capitals were also missing Tom Wilson during their practice. The team announced early on Thursday that Wilson would not be skating due to personal reasons.
Carbery was unsure if the big winger would be back with the team for their matchup against the Flyers.
“I don’t know [if Wilson will be available],” he said. “Hopefully, but I don’t know.”
The team remains without Evgeny Kuznetsov as the Russian center is still in the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program. Nicklas Backstrom is also still on long-term injured reserve and isn’t expected back at all this year.
