The Washington Capitals are in dire need of a resurgence to reach the playoffs. The Capitals enter Thursday six points out of a playoff spot with ten games remaining. Washington will get some re-enforcement with the return of defenseman John Carlson.
Carlson expects to take the ice Thursday against the Chicago Blackhawks after missing 36 games. The Capitals’ top blueliner last played on Dec. 23 when he got struck in the head with a puck and taken to the hospital. He suffered a skull fracture and a severed temporal artery. Recently, Carlson said it felt like he got “struck by lightning.”
Carlson spoke with the media Thursday morning about his return after his three-month absence.
“It feels great,” he said, per Tarik El-Bashir of The Athletic. “You put in a lot of work all summer long, all season long, all rehab long. You want to go out there and use it. That’s what we all want to do — play the game we love and have fun with it.”
John Carlson had eight goals and 13 assists through 30 games before his unfortunate injury.
The Capitals have reshuffled their blue line since Carlson last played. Dmitri Orlov and Erik Gustafsson have gotten traded in deadline deals. Meanwhile, Washington got younger on defense, acquiring 23-year-old Rasmus Sandin in a deadline trade. The Capitals have another pair of 23-year-old defensemen, Martin Fehervary and Alexander Alexeyev.
Carlson will be paired with Fehervary against the Blackhawks. Meanwhile, he won’t be the only re-enforcement set to rejoin the Capitals Thursday. Washington’s head coach Peter Laviolette announced goaltender Darcy Kuemper and veteran defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk are returning.
Kuemper, who has started 48 games in net, returns after missing two games with an upper-body injury. Van Riemsdyk missed Tuesday’s contest for the birth of his child.
