ARLINGTON, VA — The Washington Capitals will get their top center back in the lineup on Saturday night.
Pierre-Luc Dubois, will return against the Buffalo Sabres, ending a five-game absence due to illness that left the Capitals without one of their best players.
After Saturday’s morning skate, Dubois confirmed that was back to normal and ready to play.
“I feel really good,” he said. “It’s one of those things where, you know, you’re unlucky and one thing leads to another…I’m just excited about tonight.”
Dubois has not played in over two weeks, last dressing against the New York Rangers on October 9 before falling ill. The Capitals’ relatively sparse schedule as of late, which saw them play just three games in the last nine days, allowed him to take plenty of time to recover.
“I’ve been lucky and fortunate that we haven’t been playing too much, so it’s given me a lot of days, a lot of practices without missing too many games,” he said.
Of the illness itself, Dubois said, “(There was) a lot of hydration and laying down on the couch and just waiting to feel better. But just happy to be back now.”
Besides resting and keeping up with Capitals games, Dubois also took the opportunity to watch his father coach in Germany. Eric Dubois, who has also spent time as an AHL assistant coach with the Manitoba Moose, currently serves as head coach for Eisbären Berlin, and Dubois’ time out sick allowed him to watch those DEL games.
Dubois may have spent the first week of his absence recovering at home, but waiting out the illness was only the first step. After going so long without skating, Dubois needed to get back into game-ready condition before returning to play.
“You always want to be conscious of how you feel with the illness, but also how you feel with your muscles and everything after sitting on the couch for too many days in a row,” he said.
He first hit the ice with then-injured Matt Roy on Saturday October 17 before skating with his teammates in a no-contact jersey on Monday; he has been a full participant in practices since Wednesday.
Justin Sourdif, who has also been out with an illness, will return to the lineup on Saturday alongside Dubois, meaning the Capitals are now fully healthy down the middle. Head coach Spencer Carbery emphasized the impact the two will have on the team’s performance.
“Both big parts of our team, play the center ice position, factor in on both special teams, so big parts of our team getting back,” he said.
After missing most of last season with an abdominal and abductor injury, Dubois had gotten off to a hot start this fall before getting sick. He was on a point-per-game pace with one goal and three assists in his first four games, playing on a dangerous line between Alex Tuch and Tom Wilson.
Instead of returning to that line, Carbery instead plans to deploy Dubois between Aliaksei Protas and Wilson on Saturday, returning to a line that was one of Washington’s strongest last season. The Protas-Dubois-Wilson trio ranked third among all Capitals lines in five-on-five ice time (127:30) despite Dubois’ injury limiting them to just 14 of 82 games. During those minutes, the Capitals outscored opponents 8-2 and recorded 59.46% of expected goals, out-chancing other teams 65-43 with a 22-19 advantage in high-danger chances.
Carbery hopes that returning to that line can help jump-start Dubois’ wingers, especially Protas, who has just two points (2a) in nine games this fall.
“We’re trying to get Big Pro going, and even Willy a little bit, for that matter,” Carbery said. “He’s had some good games, but I think there’s another level to Willy’s game as well…putting them back with Dubie, maybe just to — they’ve played so many games with that combination — to give them that familiarity.
“And hopefully that maybe sparks something for those guys and (they) can play a good matchup tonight against Tage (Thompson) and his group. (We’ll) see if going back to the well with those three helps sort of spark them and their chemistry.”
Dubois and his teammates will face the Sabres at home at 7 pm.
