Brooks Orpik didn’t skate today and he won’t play tonight in Philadelphia, but he’s “doing better.”
Capitals head coach Barry Trotz provided that update this morning, two days after the veteran defenseman was shaken up on a hit by the Flyers’ Ryan White.
“We’ll see where he is tomorrow,” Trotz said of Orpik, per the Washington Post. “I don’t predict anything, but I know he’s feeling better. I saw him last night, and I saw him this morning. The trainers are working with him, and hopefully, he’s back soon.”
Orpik will be replaced by Taylor Chorney, the 28-year-old who appeared 55 times for Washington in the regular season.
The Caps can sweep the Flyers with a victory, and they intend to do just that.
“When you have a chance to close out a team in the playoffs, you need to step on their throat and end it,” d-man Mike Weber told CSN Washington.
“You can’t give them any breath, any life.”