The Washington Capitals will be without two of their key forwards again when the puck drops against the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday night. Neither TJ Oshie nor Aliaksei Protas will dress for the matchup as both men continue to work their way back from their respective injuries.
The Capitals will also likely be without veteran winger Tom Wilson as he faces a suspension hearing with the NHL’s Department of Player Safety. Matthew Phillips was recalled on Friday morning so that the team can still dress a full complement of forwards against Carolina.
“We’ll have right at the number with Matthew Phillips’ recall,” head coach Spencer Carbery said. “He’ll go in the lineup so we’ll be all good.”
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Phillips will join a lineup that now includes Mike Sgarbossa and Nicolas Aube-Kubel after they replaced Oshie and Protas against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Sgarbossa skated on the team’s top line in the 7-3 loss while NAK joined back up with his regular fourth-line linemates.
Oshie is out with an upper-body injury and it could be the same one that has plagued his career over the past few seasons. The 37-year-old’s struggle with reoccurring back issues will have kept him out of 26 games this season and limited him to less than 60 games for the fourth straight year.
The Capitals are set to honor Oshie with a pregame ceremony before Sunday’s matchup with the Winnipeg Jets for playing in his 1,000th NHL game on the team’s recent road trip.
Protas has been dealing with a lower-body injury he suffered late against the Chicago Blackhawks on March 9. The 23-year-old winger missed a game against the Edmonton Oilers on March 13 and is back out of the lineup now as the Capitals have returned home.
