Evening Notes: Dubois, Marchessault, Lowry

Washington Capitals centerman Pierre-Luc Dubois donned a non-contact jersey for a second-straight practice on Friday. He won’t be ready for Washington’s Sunday matchup against the Vancouver Canucks, but could return on Tuesday, head coach Spencer Carbery told Washington Post’s Bailey Johnson. Dubois has been day-to-day with a lower-body injury for much of the last week.

Dubois appeared in three games before sustaining his injury. His only notable stat changes came in the form of five shots on net, two hits, and a plus-one. He continued to serve as a top-six center for the Capitals, centering Aliaksei Protas and Tom Wilson. Washington has turned towards Connor McMichael to fill that role in Dubois’ absence. McMichael has one point – his first of the year – and a plus-one in the relief role. That scoring surely won’t be enough to command Dubois’ spot once he’s back to full health. Dubois should be expected to return in the coming week, and continue his hunt for his first score of the year.

Other notes from around the NHL:

• Winger Jonathan Marchessault sat out of the Nashville Predators’ Saturday matchup against the Winnipeg Jets. He is day-to-day with a lower-body injury, per a team announcement. Nashville opted to ice seven defensemen in the matchup – pulling defender Nick Blackenburg into the lineup. They went on to lose by a score of 1-4. Marchessault is tied for the Predators’ lead in scoring with four points through five games this season. He finished second on the team in scoring last season, with 56 points in 78 game placing him behind only Filip Forsberg, who scored 76 points in 82 games. That standing will make Marchessault’s absence quickly felt, even if he’s only out for the short term.
• On the other side of that matchup, Winnipeg received a bit of positive injury news when captain Adam Lowry returned to practice in a no-contact jersey on Saturday, per NHL.com’s Mitchell Clinton. Lowry has been recovering from hip surgery he underwent in late May. He is still working back to full health this season, but did manage 13 appearances and scored four goals in the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs. He also scored 34 points in 73 regular season games. Lowry is a core piece of Winnipeg’s lineup when healthy, offering stout two-way play from a middle-six center role. He will be slotted back into a busy role as soon as he’s ready to make his season debut.