The Washington Capitals have a "fairly high" concern regarding forward T.J. Oshie, coach Spencer Carbery said Thursday after the forward sustained a noncontact injury midway through the third period of a 5-3 win at the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Oshie will not play Saturday when the Capitals visit the Florida Panthers (6 p.m. ET; MNMT, BSFL), and Carbery would not speculate on a timeline beyond that when speaking on Friday.
"Obviously left the game and we'll continue to monitor him," Carbery said. "I don't think this is a skating today or tomorrow situation, but I don't want to tell you anything definitive on timeline or anything like that. We'll just continue to monitor him."
Oshie was injured while making a move to hold the puck in at the blue line. He then crawled off the ice and sat on the bench briefly before being helped down the tunnel.
"I'll be back," Oshie posted on X after the game. "Thanks for the love Caps fans. #NoBadDays."
Carbery was asked whether he thought Oshie's injury was less serious than first feared.
"Yes and no," he said. "Just too early to tell. We're just monitoring him and we'll know more in the near future."
Washington (26-21-8), which has won three in a row, is five points behind Tampa Bay for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.
Carbery said forward Nicolas Aube-Kubel, who scored the Capitals' first goal Thursday, is a candidate to move to the first line with Alex Ovechkin and Connor Brown in Oshie's absence.
Washington recalled forward Hendrix Lapierre from Hershey of the American Hockey League on Friday. The 21-year old has seven points (two goals, five assists) in 25 games for the Capitals this season. He last played for Washington on Jan. 18.
"We're still sorting through it but i think with 'Kuby' coming back into the lineup (after being scratched the previous two games), I thought he had a real strong game last night, not just a goal," Carbery said. "There was a lot of wall plays, some forecheck battles, some good puck decisions. ... but Kuby played really well last night where he's deserving a little bit more of an opportunity, potentially tomorrow."
NHL.com staff writer Tom Gulitti contributed to this report
