Capitals’ Justin Sourdif to miss ‘little bit of time’ with lower-body injury

Washington Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery announced after Wednesday’s 7-1 win over the San Jose Sharks that winger Justin Sourdif will miss “a little bit of time” with a lower-body injury.

Sourdif didn’t play in Wednesday’s win, as he was revealed to be a scratch shortly before the game due to an injury. The cause of the injury is not known, but it’s likely that he sustained it during Tuesday’s 3-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings, although he didn’t leave at any point of the game.

Sourdif’s specific timeline for return isn’t known, but as Carbery said, it’s not expected to be long-term. It’s safe to assume that Sourdif also won’t play in Friday’s game against the Anaheim Ducks, and perhaps with the Capitals only playing on Sunday between then and Thursday may indicate that he won’t play until Thursday, but there’s no official timeline.

The injury comes at the worst time for Sourdif, as he was starting to see his play improve in recent weeks. While he was on a four-game pointless streak prior to the injury, before that slump he had five points in a seven-game stretch. On the season as a whole, he has three goals and three assists for six points in 27 games.

With Sourdif out of the lineup, Connor McMichael took the winger’s spot on the second line, reuniting alongside Aliaksei Protas and Tom Wilson. This combination has been McMichael’s most common linemates this season, as they have outscored their opponents 7-4 and have a 47.41% 5v5 expected goal share in 93:36 of ice time.

Defenseman John Carlson also missed Wednesday’s win with an upper-body injury. Carbery didn’t have an update on Carlson’s status going forward after the game.

The Capitals currently sit in first in the Metropolitan Division with a 17-9-2 record. They’ll look to extend their six-game winning streak when they visit the Ducks on Friday at 10 p.m. EST.