Poti, Bradley likely out; Johansson week-to-week
It is only three games into the season, but the Capitals already are dealing with their first rash of injuries.
Rookie center Marcus Johansson is “week-to-week” with an injured foot after taking a puck off it early in the first period of Monday’s 3-2 win over Ottawa.
Johansson, who was injured during his second shift of the game and sat out the final eight minutes plus overtime, won’t play at home on Wednesday against the New York Islanders or Saturday night when Washington travels to Nashville. But no call-ups are expected yet from AHL Hershey to replace the team’s third-line center, a 20-year-old Swede who won the job in training camp against strong competition.
“We’ve got enough guys here right now,” Caps coach Bruce Boudreau said after Tuesday’s practice. “Eventually [a minor-league recall] might happen. But we’re at home. If we were going on the road it might necessitate something.”
Hershey centers Keith Aucoin and Mathieu Perreault would be options if Johansson’s injury lingers. For now, Boudreau hopes to have forward Matt Bradley back by the weekend. The fourth-line right wing left Monday’s game early in the first period with what the team called a lower-body injury.
Defenseman Tom Poti was scratched Monday after taking part in warm-ups. He also has a lower-body injury. Both players are listed as day-to-day, but neither is expected to play Wednesday.
Centers Boyd Gordon and David Steckel could anchor that spot on the third and fourth lines against New York. Steckel played in the season opener last Friday, but was a healthy scratch the following two games.
Don’t expect much sympathy from the Islanders (1-0-1, three points), who are off to a nice start despite a series of disastrous injuries. New York will be without center John Tavares, 20, who suffered a mild concussion last Saturday. Their other top young player, 22-year-old forward Kyle Okposo, is out at least two months after shoulder surgery on Oct. 1. To top it off, their best defenseman, Mark Streit, underwent surgery that same day to repair a torn labrum and a torn rotator cuff in his left shoulder. He was hurt during training camp during an intra-squad scrimmage. That’s New York’s three top scorers from 2009-10.
The Caps (2-1-0, four points) have won seven of the last eight games against the Islanders. But three of their four meetings last season were decided in overtime or a shootout.
