The Washington Capitals lost one of their key players Thursday night as the Carolina Hurricanes tied up the first-round series against the defending Stanley Cup champions.
Forward T.J. Oshie was spilled into the boards late in the third period by the Hurricanes' Warren Foegele and skated off the ice bent over. He was in a lot of pain as he held his arm.
"He won't be playing any time soon," Capitals coach Todd Reirden told reporters after the game.
Foegele was penalized on the play, but the Capitals' Nicklas Backstrom and Tom Wilson were stymied by Hurricanes goalie Petr Mrazek as the power play was expiring and Carolina held on for a 2-1 win.
Oshie goes down hard at the boards, skates straight to tunnel. #CapsCanespic.twitter.com/jkkHQGzZuL
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Carolina, which is making its first playoff appearance since 2009 and lost the first two games in Washington, return there Saturday night with the series tied 2-2 after they outscored the Capitals 7-1 in raucous Raleigh, North Carolina.
Oshie had been moved up to the top line with Alex Ovechkin and Backstrom for Game 4. He had 25 goals during the regular season and had 21 points during last season's Stanley Cup run.
Reirden called the hit "a dangerous play."
Washington Capitals right wing T.J. Oshie skates off the ice after being injured in the third period against the Carolina Hurricanes. (Photo: James Guillory, USA TODAY Sports)
Foegele had opened the scoring 17 seconds in on a 2-on-0 break, setting a franchise playoff record for fastest goal. The Capitals also got flat-footed on a line change as Teuvo Teravainen broke a tie with 27.9 seconds left in the second period.
The Hurricanes have their own injury problems. Jordan Martinook left the game after hitting the boards (he briefly returned, then left again), and Andrei Svechnikov (concussion) and Micheal Ferland (upper body) didn't suit up. Svechnikov was hurt in a fight with Washington's Alex Ovechkin.
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