The Washington Capitals look like they may get a big piece of their lineup back against the Winnipeg Jets on Monday night.
Veteran forward TJ Oshie is no longer listed on injured reserve after traveling with the team on their road trip and being a full participant in another skate.
Oshie was originally taken out of action on February 22 when he had to leave a game against the Tampa Bay Lightning doubled over in pain due to a non-contact injury. The 37-year-old winger has made quick progress after initially being listed as out “week-to-week,” skating for the first time less than a week ago.
Oshie’s return could be very well timed as the Capitals appear to be dealing with some lineup-related question marks before their game against the Jets. Neither Tom Wilson nor Charlie Lindgren took the ice for the morning skate in Winnipeg and head coach Spencer Carbery had no updates on them regarding Monday night’s game.
“Working through some lineup things on all fronts,” Carbery said. “I can’t give you much lineup. It’ll be determined in the next few hours as it leads up to game time. I just don’t want to give you misinformation and then it to change at the last minute so we’re just going to hold off on the lineup. We’re working through some things and we’ll find out tonight at 6:30.”
Oshie had been playing his best hockey of the season before getting taken out of action. In 17 games after returning from his previous ailment this year, Oshie had recorded 14 points (8g, 6a). That run of games included a hat trick against the St. Louis Blues on January 18.
Overall on the season, Oshie has put up 18 points (10g, 8a) in 38 games. He is just four games shy of hitting the 1,000 career game mark — a personal goal he wanted to reach this season.
While Oshie has come off of IR, both Nic Dowd and Martin Fehervary remain on it despite also being on the trip.
Note: The Capitals’ transaction was found on the team’s roster on the NHL’s private media site and first reported by NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti.
