Is Darcy Kuemper playing tonight? Latest Injury Update for Capitals vs. Blackhawks

The Washington Capitals and Chicago Blackhawks will square off in less than two hours. We all know that John Carlson will be back. What about Darcy Kuemper who hurt himself in practice last week with an upper body injury?

Matt Weyrich of NBC Sports Washington reported that Kuemper will be back in the lineup tonight and it was confirmed by head coach Peter Laviolette. Trevor van Riemsdyk is back in the lineup as well. Though he wasn’t hurt, he had a baby! Congrats to him.

As far as Carlson goes, Laviolette said that Carlson will pair with Martin Fehervary but the coach is also “open to change that” and possibly pair him with Rasmus Sandin down the stretch. If that’s the case it’ll be the first time those two share the ice together after Sandin was acquired from the Toronto Maple Leafs in the Erik Gustafsson trade.

With the returns of Carlson and Kuemper, the Capitals have returned defenseman Gabriel Carlsson and goaltender Zach Fucale to the Hershey Bears.

Charlie Lindgren filled in for Kuemper for the last two games. He dropped both but the losses weren’t on him. He made 35 saves on 40 shots in Minnesota against the Wild Sunday. At home against the Columbus on Tuesday he made 32 saves on 39 shots.

So far this season Lindgren is 13-9-3 with a 3.02 goals against average and an .898 save percentage. Kuemper this season is 20-22-5 with a 2.77 goals against average and a .910 save percentage. His last outing was a home game on St. Patrick’s Day against the St. Louis Blues where he made 17 saves off 21 shots in a loss.

You can catch the game tonight at 7 p.m. on NBC Sports Washington or on 106.7 The Fan or Caps Radio 24/7. To learn more on how to watch and bet on the game click here. For fantasy hockey tips on why you should start Evgeny Kuznetsov, click here.