The Capitals suffered yet another injury at center this week, going without Justin Sourdif in Wednesday’s 7-1 win over the San Jose Sharks. Both Sourdif (lower-body) and John Carlson (upper-body) sat out hurt after playing the LA Kings the night before.
Sourdif had missed several third-period shifts against the Kings following a collision in the second period; though he was able to finish that game, he did not take the ice in San Jose. Carlson participated in warmups and line rushes on Wednesday but was ultimately ruled unable to play.
Head coach Spencer Carbery spoke on the pair’s status postgame but declined to offer many specifics.
“I can’t give you a real detailed answer to that,” he said. “Carlson took warmups, so that tells you something, that’s it’s hopefully not something that’s going to be extremely long-term. And Sourdy, I’ll have a better idea once we talk to Serbs (Capitals head athletic trainer Jason Serbus). Nothing long-term, but (he is) going to miss a little bit of time.”
Per NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti, Sourdif’s injury appeared to occur just before the halfway point against LA when he got tangled up with Kings winger Jeff Malott, who tripped over Sourdif on a Caps rush play. Sourdif looked to be in pain as he returned to the bench after the collision.
Sourdif has taken on a larger role with the Capitals in recent weeks. With both Pierre-Luc Dubois and the now-healthy Nic Dowd hurt, Sourdif had been serving as the Capitals’ second-line center between Aliaksei Protas and Tom Wilson. Though he’s dressed in just 31 career NHL games, Sourdif found instant success playing alongside two of Washington’s best forwards.
In 112:37 of five-on-five play, the Protas-Sourdif-Leonard trio has outscored opponents 8-2, out-chanced them 59-38, and has more than double the high-danger chances (35-14), per Natural Stat Trick — all while facing many teams’ star players.
“He’s stepped in really well,” Wilson said of Sourdif last week. “From the minute he got put on our line, he’s taken advantage of it. He’s taken on the responsibilities, played against some really good players, top lines on other teams. He’s a really fun kid to have around. He’s pretty easygoing, go with the flow, as I’m sure you guys see. And when he has the puck, he’s creative, and he has a great knack offensively to get things done and to open up ice. So it’s been fun to play with him. He’s learning quick, and his game’s growing like crazy right now.”
Carlson, meanwhile, has been a key part of Washington’s high-scoring defense corps. His 23 points (6g, 17a) in 16 games — including 16 points (4g, 12a) in his last 14 outings — rank seventh among all NHL defensemen. He’s also averaged 22:52 in time on ice, behind only Jakob Chychrun for most on the Capitals, though he played a season-low 18:27 against LA.
The Capitals will have a day to recover on Thursday before facing the Anaheim Ducks on Friday in the final game of their West Coast road trip.
