The Washington Capitals briefly lost an important player in the second period against the Buffalo Sabres, Saturday night.
Defenseman Ramus Sandin was helped off the ice with 5:38 remaining in the period after an extended puck battle along the corner boards. As players tried to dig the puck out, Sabres forward Jordan Greenway awkwardly fell on Sandin’s right leg, crumpling the Swedish rearguard to the ice.
Sandin writhed in pain as head athletic trainer Jason Serbus made his way over to check on him. Eventually, he got up and was helped off the ice by Aliaksei Protas and John Carlson. Several Capitals trainers then helped Sandin down the tunnel, suggesting a possible serious injury.
Sandin was skating on the second pairing with Matt Roy and had played 12:58 of total ice time at the time of his injury.
Sandin, however, was able to return. He took a twirl before the start of the third period but went back down the tunnel to the locker room. A few minutes later, he came back and sat on the bench. He took a shift again at the 16:24 mark of the third, seemingly no worse for wear.
After struggling in his first full season with the Capitals, Sandin has been one of the team’s top players in 2024-25. The Capitals have been tremendous with Sandin on the ice at five-on-five this season. Coming into Saturday night’s contest, the club was seeing 52.2 percent of the shot attempts, 59.4 percent of the expected goals, 57.8 percent of the scoring chances, and 58 percent of the high-danger chances with the slick Swede over the boards. They had also outscored their opponents 34-17.
