Caps 4, Blue Jackets 3
These wins are becoming a bit pyrrhic in nature for the Caps. The 4-3 overtime victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets – and, really, aren’t they all overtime wins at this point – came with some bad news attached. Not only did the team lose another defenseman – this time John Erskine – to injury, but we learned the defenseman Dennis Wideman is out indefinitely with a severe hematoma and remains in the hospital.
That news was first reported by TSN’s Bob McKenzie. A team source confirmed the injury and said doctors feared possible muscle damage from the condition, also known as compartment syndrome. It’s pretty serious stuff as blood leaks from an artery, vein or capillaries and into surrounding tissue, where it becomes boxed in and causes severe swelling that can cause nerve damage, loss of a limb, paralysis and even death in severe cases.
It’s not an uncommon injury in pro sports. Redskins defensive lineman Jason Taylor missed several games in 2008 with compartment syndrome, needing emergency surgery after simply getting kicked in the calf during a Sept. 21 game that season. The source emphasized that in this case any muscle damage appears limited. But Wideman – who injured his right leg during a collision with Carolina forward Tuomo Ruutu on Tuesday – is still in the hospital for a reason. Doctors had to open the affected area – unclear exactly what part of his leg was injured – and drain the pooling blood.
[Wideman has] been firing off some pictures, too. They’re pretty graphic,” teammate Mike Knuble said. “It’s pretty grotesque how Dennis is opened up right now and I think he’s just pretty much high all the time to deal with the pain…It’s pretty amazing what’s happening to him.”
Erskine got in a fight with Jared Boll in the first period, served his five minute major, came out and played a heck of a shift early in the second with a hit and a shot on goal as he carried the puck into the offensive zone and then left the game for good. The team says he is day-to-day with an undisclosed injury. That’s rough news for a team missing Mike Green (concussion) and Tom Poti (groin), too.
“It just seemed like we were getting guys back – we got Jason [Arnott], we got Alex [Ovechkin] and a couple other guys that were nursing stuff here or there,” Knuble said. “Now they seem to be dropping with five games left. I’m sure [Erskine] will be back. But all of the sudden you were pretty deep and pretty comfortable and now you’re almost searching for guys who can play. We’re dealing with Dennis. He’s going to be out a while. That’s a reality. John won’t be as long, I imagine. But we’d much rather be adding guys at this point.”
Added Washington coach Bruce Boudreau: “It’s happened to everybody. Everybody’s got injuries. We don’t want anybody else to get hurt, but whatever it is I’ve been on a lot of winning teams that had to fight more guys being out than this.”
Tough night that obscured Chimera’s game-winning goal in a wild contest. The Caps went ahead by a goal three different times before giving up a late tally to old friend Scottie Upshall, who famously called Washington’s early playoff flameout last season. That hurt. But Chimera knocked home the game-winner in overtime against his former team. I have no idea what that does to the old “money-on-the-board” game that an NHL player – allegedly – posts for the teammate who scores the winner against his former team. Do Chimer’a teammates pay him? This fascinates me. Unfortunately, Chimera denied such a system even exists. He kind of has to. The league came down hard on Maple Leafs coach Ron Wilson earlier this season for a similar infraction. But I’d enjoy some answers on this one.
Anyway, Washington is now 45-22-11 with 101 points. That is just one behind Philadelphia (46-21-10, 102 points) for the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference – though the Flyers have a game in hand and will likely win the tiebreaker. No. 3 Boston (43-23-11, 97 points) lost in a shootout to Toronto. The Caps maintain a six-point lead on Tampa Bay (42-24-11, 95 points) in the Southeast Division. Just two more wins and Washington wins the division for the fourth year in a row.
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