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.
Trotz said it's the same lineup as Game 6 in Toronto. Waiting for Alzner to get medical clearance. Said team doesn't want to put him at risk
— Isabelle Khurshudyan (@ikhurshudyan) April 27, 2017