Nic Dowd, Tom Wilson, and Connor McMichael’s availability against Blue Jackets ‘to be determined’
The Washington Capitals have some question marks at forward heading into their game against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday night.
In addition to injured center Nic Dowd, who has missed the past three games with an upper-body injury, head coach Spencer Carbery did not commit to Tom Wilson or Connor McMichael dressing against the Blue Jackets, though he did not mention them by name. Wilson and McMichael skated on Monday morning but missed Sunday’s practice for maintenance.
“A couple guys TBD tonight, so we’ll see how it shakes out this afternoon,” Carbery said. “We just have a few guys [that] didn’t skate yesterday. We’ll see how they are for tonight.”
According to RMNB’s Katie Adler, Dowd took the scratches skate with Dylan McIlrath and Trevor van Riemsdyk. Typically, that signals he will not play, and McMichael has replaced him at center for the last three games.
McIlrath or TVR have played on the right side of the team’s third defense pairing for the last four games, so Declan Chisholm appears set for his first game since November 15. Chisholm has one assist in nine games this season.
Projected Capitals lineup for 11/24 game against Blue Jackets
Ovechkin
Strome
Beauvillier
Duhaime
McMichael
Leonard
The Capitals have no remaining healthy forwards, so if Wilson or McMichael cannot play, the team would opt for an 11-forward, 7-defensemen lineup unless they make a last-minute recall.
Wilson is the team’s leading scorer with 21 points (11g, 10a) in 22 games, while McMichael has recorded 10 points (2g, 8a) in 22 games.
The Blue Jackets (11-8-3) are one point ahead of the Capitals (11-9-2) in the Metropolitan Division standings. Columbus lost their last game on the road 4-3 in overtime to the Detroit Red Wings. The Capitals already hold a 5-1 win over the Blue Jackets from last month.
