Nic Dowd won’t be on the ice when the Washington Capitals take on the Toronto Maple Leafs in the last game of their homestand on Friday night.
Dowd was placed on injured reserve on Wednesday and remains on IR heading into the contest. The 35-year-old center has missed the team’s last five games with an upper-body injury, and head coach Spencer Carbery ruled him out against the Maple Leafs during his pregame media availability.
“We don’t have a great timeline on Dowder, but not going to play tonight,” Carbery said. “We’ll see moving forward. He will travel.”
In 19 games this season, Dowd has recorded five points (1g, 4a). He has averaged 15:07 of ice time per game, with 2:42 of that coming on the penalty kill. He also ranks second on the team among regular centers in faceoff win percentage, winning 51 percent of his draws.
With Dowd out of the lineup, Connor McMichael has played center between Brandon Duhaime and Ryan Leonard on the Capitals’ third line. The injury has also given Sonny Milano an opportunity to dress regularly, as he’s played in five straight games and excelled with four points (2g, 2a).
The only lineup changes from the Capitals’ win over the Winnipeg Jets on Thanksgiving Eve will be Logan Thompson taking the net from Charlie Lindgren and Trevor van Riemsdyk displacing Dylan McIlrath. The healthy scratches will be McIlrath, Bogdan Trineyev, and Declan Chisholm.
Capitals projected 11/28 lineup against Maple Leafs
The Maple Leafs are also going to be without a huge piece of their lineup, as head coach Craig Berube announced pregame that star forward William Nylander will miss out due to illness. Toronto just got Auston Matthews, Matthew Knies, and Nicolas Roy back from injury in their last game, a 2-1 overtime win against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Overall, this season, the Maple Leafs have struggled to a 10-10-3 record, leaving them just one standings point ahead of the Buffalo Sabres for last place in the Eastern Conference. They have just two wins in their previous nine games, neither coming in regulation.
