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Caps without Alzner, again, for Game 1 versus Pens

Washington Capitals v New Jersey Devils

NEWARK, NJ - FEBRUARY 06: Karl Alzner #27 of the Washington Capitals takes the puck as Sergey Kalinin #51 of the New Jersey Devils defends on February 6, 2016 at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.The Washington Capitals defeated the New Jersey Devils 3-2 in an overtime shootout. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

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The upper-body ailment that kept Karl Alzner out of most of Washington’s first-round series against Toronto will force him to miss the start of the second as well.

On Thursday, the Caps officially ruled Alzner out of tonight’s Game 1 versus Pittsburgh, per the Washington Post. The news comes after the 28-year-old participated in the morning skate, but was out mostly with the extras.

Alzner is now facing a near two-week layoff, having last played in Game 2 of the Leafs series on Apr. 15. He skated 26:17 that night in a double-OT loss, and hasn’t drawn back into the lineup since.

With him sidelined, the Caps have used Nate Schmidt on defense -- and yielded solid results. Schmidt has good skating ability and foot speed, and he seemed to make a fairly significant difference against Toronto, as the Caps were often forced to try and match the younger and faster Maple Leafs.