The Washington Capitals will be without one of their top-scoring defensemen against the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday night.
About an hour before puck drop, the Capitals announced that Jakob Chychrun would miss the game due to illness.
Dylan McIlrath took warmups next to Trevor van Riemsdyk, Chychrun’s regular partner. McIlrath’s last game also came against the Hurricanes, filling in for an injured Matt Roy last week.
The game against Carolina will be Chychrun’s sixth absence of the season after he missed some time early in the season with an upper-body injury. The 27-year-old rearguard is having a career-best year, posting 47 points (20g, 27a) in 72 games.
McIlrath could play a role in the expected physicality between the Capitals and Hurricanes after their last game ended with 142 penalty minutes and eight players taking early showers.
