The Capitals suffered yet another injury at center this week, going without Justin Sourdif in Wednesday\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Head coach Spencer Carbery spoke on the pair\u2019s status postgame but declined to offer many specifics.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t give you a real detailed answer to that,\u201d he said. \u201cCarlson took warmups, so that tells you something, that\u2019s it\u2019s hopefully not something that\u2019s going to be extremely long-term. And Sourdy, I\u2019ll 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
Per NHL.com\u2019s Tom Gulitti<\/a>, Sourdif\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n 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\u2019 second-line center between Aliaksei Protas and Tom Wilson. Though he\u2019s dressed in just 31 career NHL games, Sourdif found instant success playing alongside two of Washington\u2019s best forwards.<\/p>\n 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<\/a> \u2014 all while facing many teams\u2019 star players.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s stepped in really well,\u201d Wilson said of Sourdif last week. \u201cFrom the minute he got put on our line, he\u2019s taken advantage of it. He\u2019s taken on the responsibilities, played against some really good players, top lines on other teams. He\u2019s a really fun kid to have around. He\u2019s pretty easygoing, go with the flow, as I\u2019m sure you guys see. And when he has the puck, he\u2019s creative, and he has a great knack offensively to get things done and to open up ice. So it\u2019s been fun to play with him. He\u2019s learning quick, and his game\u2019s growing like crazy right now.\u201d<\/p>\n Carlson, meanwhile, has been a key part of Washington\u2019s high-scoring defense corps. His 23 points (6g, 17a) in 16 games \u2014 including 16 points (4g, 12a) in his last 14 outings \u2014 rank seventh among all NHL defensemen. He\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t