The Washington Capitals are down another defenseman.
The Capitals lost Vincent Iorio 4:50 into the second period of Game One after a hard shoulder-to-shoulder hit by New York Rangers forward Alexis Lafrenière. Iorio slammed hard into the side boards and turned the puck over.
The Rangers then scored on the resulting two-on-one with Artemi Panarin beating Charlie Lindgren.
As the Rangers celebrated, Iorio, writhing in pain, skated down the ice to the corner boards where the tunnel to the visiting locker room is located.
Capitals PR tweeted that Iorio suffered an upper-body injury on the play and was “questionable” to return.
INJURY UPDATE: #Caps Vincent Iorio sustained an upper body injury and is questionable to return.
— CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) April 21, 2024
Monumental Sports Network’s Alan May said during the second intermission of Iorio, “reading his lips, it looked like he said ‘it popped.'”
No penalty was called on Lafrenière on the play.
The Capitals are already without three regular defensemen Rasmus Sandin, Nick Jensen, and Ethan Bear. Sandin and Jensen are rehabbing from upper-body injuries while Bear is in the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance program. Iorio had been called up from Hershey as a replacement.
Iorio had only three total shifts in the game. He skated 1:50 total.
