Kempny out indefinitely for Capitals with lower-body injury

Michal Kempny will be out indefinitely for the Washington Capitals because of a lower-body injury.

The defenseman was injured during the second period of a 5-4 overtime loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday.
Washington coach Todd Reirden said Friday that Kempny was having more medical testing done to better determine how long he would be out.
"I'd say we're going to have to be without him for an indefinite amount of time right now," Reirden said.
Kempny has NHL career highs in goals (six), assists (19) and points (25) in 71 games this season playing mostly on the top pair with John Carlson.
"I think I'm a little bit more aggressive at the (blue) line and keeping guys out of the zone, and in-zone he's a little more aggressive in terms of down below the goal line and stuff like that," Carlson said. "I think we obviously know each other's games and work off each other pretty well. He's a big piece of this team and we're going to have to all step up."

Christian Djoos, scratched 11 of the past 12 games, could take Kempny's spot in the lineup against the Minnesota Wild on Friday (7 p.m. ET; NHLN, TVAS, NBCSWA, FS-N, NHL.TV). He has eight points (one goal, seven assists) in 43 games.
"I think Christian's a great player," Carlson said. "He adds different dimensions of the game than say [Kempny] does. We get to see that more now. I've played with him before, I'm looking forward to it again. I think we have depth and I think no one's replaceable, but I think the talent and how everyone can work together, that we've proven in the past, in this year alone, guys have been out of the lineup and other people have stepped up and filled voids. That's what we'll be looking forward to doing tonight."
Kempny was acquired in a trade with the Chicago Blackhawks on Feb. 19, 2018, and had five points (two goals, three assists) in 24 Stanley Cup Playoff games to help the Capitals win their first Stanley Cup championship.
He has 43 points (11 goals, 32 assists) in 174 NHL games with the Blackhawks and Capitals.
Washington (43-23-8) is in first place in the Metropolitan Division, three points ahead of the New York Islanders.
NHL.com correspondent Harvey Valentine contributed to this report