Washington Capitals’ T.J. Oshie and John Carlson both leave game early

The Washington Capitals took a massive blow in the injury department on Saturday, as both winger T.J. Oshie and defenseman John Carlson left the game early with lower-body injuries.

Oshie’s injury occurred early in the first period, when he tweaked something in his leg during a backcheck He skated without moving his left leg before returning to the bench and did not play for the rest of the game.

Carlson’s injury occurred midway through the first period after taking a nasty and awkward spill during a battle with Nashville Predators winger Michael McCarron. Carlson had some awkward balance coming out of the battle, which caused him to fall into the boards.

Oshie has struggled with injuries throughout his career, as he hasn’t played at least 70 games in a season since 2017-18 and hasn’t played at least 80 since 2015-16, although he only missed a few games in the pandemic shortened seasons in 2019-20 and 2020-21. He’s coming off the second lowest point total of his career, with just 11 goals, 14 assists, and 25 points, although he did only get into 44 games in 2021-22. He has two goals, three assists, and five points in eight games so far this season.

Carlson’s injury history hasn’t been quite as bad as Oshie’s, only missing 10 games over the last five seasons. He was off to a strong start this year with two goals, four assists and six points in eight games this season, after reaching his second highest scoring season with 71 points in 2021-22.

While Oshie and Carlson are big losses on their own, it’s even worse for the Capitals considering who else they’ve lost this season so far. Tom Wilson, Nicklas Backstrom, and Carl Hagelin haven’t played yet this season, while new additions Connor Brown has played four games before he was placed on injured reserve.