The Washington Capitals practiced on Monday without Trevor van Riemsdyk and Evgeny Kuznetsov on Monday. For Kuznetsov, he was just sick. For van Riemsdyk, it could be much more serious after he left Saturday’s game against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
For TvR, he only lasted three shifts before leaving the game due to a lower body injury. After he went down the tunnel into the locker room, Capitals PR said he wouldn’t return to the game.
#ALLCAPS This is what happened to Trevor Van Riemsdyk pic.twitter.com/LQhFq6sR2U
— Capitals Replays (@capsreplays) November 5, 2023
The play happened with TvR skating behind the net trying to defend Blue Jackets forward Justin Danforth. TvR’s legs banged into the end boards and it appeared that his left skate caught a rut along the edge of the ice. He held up his left leg at the knee and appeared to be in pain.
It came with 14:44 remaining in the first period. Alex Alexeyev would replace him moving up to the second pairing as he skated with Rasmus Sandin. TvR only skated a minute and 34 seconds. The Caps finished the game with just five defensemen.
The 32 year old defenseman who shoots right handed was announced by the Caps as day to day when today’s practice began. Head Coach Spencer Carbery was on DC 101’s Elliot In The Morning before practice and said that TvR was still being evaluated to determine the severity of the injury.
The Caps will practice tomorrow and have a morning skate on Wednesday. We could know around then if TvR will be healed and game ready for Wednesday night’s contest against the Florida Panthers.
The Caps were already banged up at defensemen to start the season. Joel Edmundson is expected to come off of long term injured reserve soon.
On the blue line there was a jump in ice time since the TvR injury in Saturday’s game as John Carlson skated for 28:30 and Sandin was on the ice for 24:19.