The Washington Capitals will face the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday night in the second game of a five-game road trip out West. When the Capitals play at Rogers Place, it’s possible they’ll use several regulars on the roster who have returned from injury.
Head Coach Spencer Carberry met with the media after the team’s optional morning skate on Wednesday. We shared the latest information about tom wilson, Nick Dowdand Martin Fehebarry. All three players did not play in Monday’s game against the Winnipeg Jets, and Carberry said a decision will be made in game time against the Oilers.
“We’ll make sure everything is OK this afternoon and then make a decision tonight,” Carberry said. “We have some players that could be back in the lineup tonight.”
Dowd has not played since February 20 after taking a direct hit to the head from Timo Meier in a game against the New Jersey Devils. In his absence, Mike Sgarbossa filled in as the team’s fourth-line center, primarily between Beck Marenstin and Nicolas Aube-Coubert.
Fehevary was ejected early from the Capitals’ 4-3 win over the Montreal Canadiens on February 17 after falling awkwardly into the back of the net. Since releasing Joel Edmundson at the trade deadline, the team has been walking the tightrope of playing with just six healthy defensemen while keeping the Slovakian defender out.
While Dowd and Fehevary suffered apparent injuries during the game and were injured around the same time last month, Wilson’s situation is more recent and more mysterious as he was able to come off his last game against the Chicago Blackhawks. It is full. All we know about the big winger’s illness is that it was essentially an upper-body ailment, enough to cause him to miss just his second game of the season.
“[Wilson] So will game time,” Carberry said. “We just need to make sure he’s completely comfortable injury-wise and able to suit up.”
The only obvious lineup change would be Darcy Kuemper in net in place of Charlie Lindgren. Lindgren has started the team’s last six games, during which they posted near-consecutive shutout wins against the Pittsburgh Penguins and Blackhawks.
“Chucky was outstanding. That’s well documented,” Carberry said. “As a result, Darcy hasn’t been playing as well as he would have liked, but that’s a product of how well Chucky has been playing. Darcy is now on the road playing a big hockey game against a great team on our team. He’s getting an opportunity to come out and play and it’s a good opportunity for him to step up a lot in our group.”
The Oilers currently sit in second place in the Pacific Division and have won six of their last 10 games. They had a few days off after a 4-0 shutout win over the Penguins on Sunday.
