Capitals defenseman John Carlson revealed to Tarik El-Bashir of The Athletic (subscription link) that the upper-body injury that has kept him out close to three months was a small skull fracture above his right ear and a severed temporal artery. Back in January, his ear had to be partially reattached, likely due to that severed artery. The veteran has started skating and is believed to be targeting Thursday’s game against Chicago as a potential return date. Carlson’s absence has played a big role in Washington’s decline this season and while his suiting up won’t change their fortunes now, it’ll still be important for him to get back and show that he has indeed fully recovered.
Other injury news from around the NHL:
- Maple Leafs forward Noel Acciari won’t play tonight against Ottawa, relays NHL.com’s Dave McCarthy (Twitter link). He suffered an injury on Friday against Carolina on a hit from Jesse Puljujarvi and did not return with head coach Sheldon Keefe indicating the 31-year-old wouldn’t be accompanying Toronto on the road. Acciari has three goals in 13 games with Toronto since being acquired from St. Louis last month while chipping in with 43 hits in a little under 13 minutes per contest.
- The Bruins are likely to be without blueliner Derek Forbort for both games this weekend. Head coach Jim Montgomery indicated after practice yesterday (video link) that the veteran went for more imaging on Friday with the team awaiting the results. Connor Clifton is expected to suit up in Forbort’s spot today while Jakub Zboril appears to be targeted for that spot in the lineup on Sunday. Forbort has a dozen points in 54 games so far this season while chipping in with 106 hits and 88 blocked shots.
Tough break for Forbort. He has been one of the best penalty killers in the league this year when healthy.
Carlson has guts coming back this season from that injury.