Rasmus Sandin missed the past two Capitals games with a reported head injury he suffered late in the team’s loss to the Ottawa Senators on Sunday.
Head coach Spencer initially expressed some hope that Sandin may be able to return to action before the end of the regular season. He shut down that hope after practice on Friday.
“Nothing new,” Carbery said. “No. Didn’t skate today. I don’t think he’ll play before the end of the regular season.”
After taking a hit along the boards from Senators forward Parker Kelly late in Sunday’s first period, Sandin did not play for the remainder of the 3-2 overtime loss. The Capitals originally labeled his ailment an upper-body injury but ESPN’s Mike Monaco provided more specific reporting about the injury being to the head of the Swedish defender.
Sandin plays more minutes on average per game this season (21:07) than any other Capitals player not named John Carlson (25:47). The 24-year-old rearguard previously missed eight games in January with an upper-body injury. His only other absence came on March 30 thanks to a lower-body injury.
The Capitals have just three games remaining on their schedule which will be played over four days. The first matchup comes on Saturday against the Tampa Bay Lightning. If the Caps are unable to jump back into a playoff spot, Sandin’s season will have come to an end after the hit from Kelly.
In his first full season with the Capitals, Sandin has gotten into 68 games and recorded 23 points (3g, 20a). Due to his absence, the Capitals have called upon help from the AHL’s Hershey Bears in the form of Vincent Iorio and Lucas Johansen.
Iorio was already up with the big club after Ethan Bear entered the NHL/NHLPA’s Player Assistance Program. The young defenseman played in the two games on the road that Sandin missed. Johansen was recalled from Hershey after the news of Sandin’s injury and has served as a healthy scratch since then.
Hershey’s season in the AHL ends after the Capitals’ final game so there is a chance that Iorio and Johansen along with rookie forwards Ivan Miroshnichenko and Hendrix Lapierre could be returned to the Bears for a final tuneup before their first-round playoff bye.
The Bears have kept on winning despite their depth being tested, taking down their three April games by a combined 11-4 score.
