The Washington Capitals will play back-to-back games against the Columbus Blue Jackets and Carolina Hurricanes this weekend without two of their top defenders.
Head coach Spencer Carbery revealed that neither Matt Roy nor Jakob Chychrun would dress for either matchup before the game against Columbus. Washington recalled defender Vincent Iorio from the AHL’s Hershey Bears on Saturday morning to have seven defensemen on their quick trip to Carolina.
“Yeah, back-to-back, Chychrun will go on IR,” Carbery said. “Matt Roy, obviously, on IR, so that will give us [seven defensemen], barring an injury or something happens tonight where we want to use Vinny tomorrow in Carolina.”
Roy has been out of action since suffering a lower-body injury in the first game of the season against the New Jersey Devils. Chychrun sustained an upper-body injury in the team’s game against the New York Rangers last Tuesday. The two veteran blueliners skated in light blue, non-contact jerseys before Washington’s 6-3 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday night.
After playing Columbus and Carolina, Washington will have Monday off and return to practice on Tuesday. Carbery was asked if Wednesday’s game against the Nashville Predators could see a return from one or both defenders.
“Yeah, it’s a possibility,” Carbery said. “They’re starting to get closer. Chychrun’s skating, Matty Roy’s getting real close, so it’s a possibility for sure.”
The absence of the minute-eating rearguards has added more to the plate of John Carlson, the Capitals’ number-one defenseman. Carlson is skating a league-leading 26:25 of ice time per game.
“I checked today, he’s leading the league,” Carbery said. “It hasn’t been an ideal situation missing Matt Roy, right-shot defenseman. The plan was to alleviate some of John’s minutes.”
Carlson has excelled despite the increased workload, though, recording eight points (2g, 6a) through nine games. With him on the ice at five-on-five, the Capitals are seeing 59.4 percent of the shot attempts, 66.3 percent of the expected goals, 62.2 percent of the scoring chances, and 62 percent of the high-danger chances.
