The Washington Capitals grabbed an authoritative win over the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday, but it appears that they’ve lost forward Jay Beagle for a while to an upper-body injury.
On a seemingly innocuous play, the third-line center injured his arm — to my eye, the team calls it his upper body. He will require surgery to repair his upper body.
Coach Barry Trotz says that the team anticipates having him out of the lineup an “extended period of time,” according to the Washington Post’s Isabelle Khurshudyan. The team is expected to move him to injured reserve.
You can see in the replay that he reaches out to give a slight push to Buffalo defenseman Jake McCabe below the goal line and immediately stops behind the net, hunches over and holds his arm. After this play he went down the tunnel to the dressing room and the team ruled him out of the remainder of the game.
Losing their third-line center will be a bigger deal than folks who aren’t paying attention realize. Beagle is the team’s best center on the face-off dot, he’s playing the second most shorthanded time among team forwards and is on pace for a career year in terms of offensive production.
Beagle has six goals and 12 points in 36 games this season.
Watch a replay below of what is suspected to be the moment where he injured his arm, courtesy of @myregularface.
https://twitter.com/myregularface/status/682375147802738689?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw