Pierre-Luc Dubois left Friday night’s game between the Washington Capitals and New York Islanders with a lower-body injury.
Dubois left the game late in the first period, going down after a faceoff with Islanders centerman Jean-Gabriel Pageau. Pageau appeared to drive Dubois to the ice with his stick, buckling his knees. The 27-year-old forward needed assistance to get off the ice and did not return for the rest of the 3-1 loss.
“He’ll be re-evaluated tomorrow,” head coach Spencer Carbery said postgame.
Dubois played just 6:04 of ice time before being forced out of action. He has played in just six of the Capitals’ 10 games to begin the 2025-26 campaign after he suffered a lower-body injury against the New York Rangers on October 12.
In the six games he has played, Dubois has yet to record a point. He had a career high of 66 points (20g, 46a) in 82 games last year.
The Capitals are set to quickly jet off north to Buffalo and play the Sabres on Saturday night. Carbery revealed that the club could make a recall from the AHL’s Hershey Bears before they make the trip. The Bears also played on Friday, downing the Springfield Thunderbirds 3-2 in overtime at the MassMutual Center in Springfield, Massachusetts.
“Yeah, potentially,” Carbery said. “I mean, we’ll find out shortly, yeah.”
Among the possible recalls up front are Ilya Protas, Andrew Cristall, Spencer Smallman, Graeme Clarke, Bogdan Trineyev, and Henrik Rybinski.
Coming into Friday’s game, the Capitals were already playing with a 22-man roster as both Ethen Frank and Rasmus Sandin are on injured reserve. Number-one centerman Dylan Strome also missed his second straight game with his own lower-body injury, but could return against the Sabres.
