Capitals lose Nicklas Backstrom and Lars Eller to injury in third period



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The Washington Capitals lost their two best remaining centers in the third period on Tuesday to the New York Islanders. The Capitals are already playing without Evgeny Kuznetsov, who is on the NHL’s COVID unavailability list.

Backstrom and Eller suffered head injuries.

Backstrom was injured at the end of the first period after absorbing a big dump-in to the face in the middle of the ice. Backstrom returned briefly to the locker room. When he returned to the bench, he sported a huge bruise on his left cheek and blood on the shoulder of his jersey.

Backstrom would take regular shifts in the second period and most of the third before leaving the game with 3:30 to go.

Here is the Backstrom squad table for the game.

Meanwhile, Lars Eller suffered a setback from behind by Islanders forward Leo Komarov. Eller’s head hit the boards. After spending some time on the ice, he left the game on his own. Komarov received a major penalty of five minutes for boarding.

Eller presumably went into concussion protocol and would not return to the game. The game took place with 10:59 to go in the third.

After the game, Peter Laviolette didn’t get any updates on any of the players. Capitals have a day off Wednesday, so we may not find out more about their status until Thursday.

“I haven’t spoken to the coaches yet,” Laviolette said.

Either way, the Capitals, while passing Michael Sgarbossa and Nic Dowd, managed to win with a last minute goal from Justin Schultz. Capitals players who were injured tonight include:

  • Alex ovechkin
  • Nicklas Backstrom
  • Henrik lundquist
  • Ilya Samsonov
  • Lars Eller
  • Michael kempny
  • Tom wilson
  • Evgeny Kuznetsov
  • Dmitry Orlov

RMNB coverage of ceilings in relation to islands

Screenshots courtesy of NBC Sports Washington



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