Eight games into the season and the Capitals are in flux down the middle.
Nicklas Backstrom announced that he’d be taking a leave of absence from the team due to his hip injury issues on Wednesday and Nic Dowd has struggled with his own health problems to start the year.
Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery was asked to give an update on Dowd after Wednesday’s practice. With the team set to take on the New York Islanders on Thursday, Dowd was absent and is slated to miss his seventh game in a row.
“No, nothing new,” Carbery said. “He hasn’t skated yet. Once he starts skating I’ll be able to give you a better indicator.”
Dowd, who was placed on injured reserve on Sunday, has been replaced in the lineup by Hendrix Lapierre. Lapierre was recently recalled from the Hershey Bears and played 7:28 against the San Jose Sharks.
Dowd has not played since October 16 against the Calgary Flames and he has been listed as out with an upper-body injury. The last time that he skated was during a morning skate on October 21.
The 33-year-old pivot missed a chunk of last season, 17 games, with a core injury that required surgery over the offseason. He did not miss any time during Training Camp or the preseason with the ailment but in his opening media availability discussed that the issue was not entirely resolved by the procedure.
“Looking every day to build on the last one and not have any setbacks,” Dowd said. “I think a lot of maintenance, a lot of rehab, a lot of warming up skating getting ready before practice. Stuff like that is probably going to follow me now for the rest of my career. Just how it works as you get a little older. It’s a tough game, so it’s kind of to be expected. I’ve been fortunate so far.”
With both Dowd and Backstrom now out, the Capitals will now turn to 21-year-old Lapierre and 22-year-old Connor McMichael down the middle. “We’ve gotta be careful,” Carbery said. “That’s my job to be careful with as now we get a little bit younger there in that bottom six. I need to monitor that. We need to monitor that. Do we need to spread some experience out throughout those four lines? It’s definitely something that I’m aware of.”
The Capitals did get some positive news in their lineup. Sonny Milano, who missed Sunday’s win over San Jose with an illness, was back on the ice and will be ready to take on the Islanders.
Backup goaltender Charlie Lindgren is also reportedly ready to go. Lindgren told NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti that he left Monday’s practice after a puck hit him on an unpadded spot on his leg but he will be fine to play understudy to Darcy Kuemper on Thursday.
Headline photo: Alan Dobbins/RMNB
