Capitals’ Pierre-Luc Dubois leaves game with lower-body injury

The injury occurred late in the first period of the game during a faceoff play. After the puck was dropped, Islanders center Jean-Gabriel Pageau cross-checked Dubois in his right leg, with that also pushing Dubois’ left leg onto the ice in an awkward way. Dubois appeared to be in discomfort immediately after the play, and needed help off the ice returning to the bench.

Dubois left the game after the play, and did not return. The Capitals confirmed that he would not be returning to the game during the second period.

Dubois has just a few shot attempts, a hit taken, and a rebound created in 6:04 of ice time in the loss.

Dubois missed five games earlier in the season with a lower-body injury, and needed a stint on injured reserve before returning. It’s unclear whether or not the injury that he sustained today is the same one that he recovered from already this season.

Even when healthy, Dubois has struggled this season, has he has been held pointless in all six contests so far this year. He’s coming off of a career year which saw him produce 20 goals, 46 assists and 66 points in 82 games with the Capitals, although he already saw some regression in the playoffs with only three assists in 10 games.

With Dubois out of the lineup, Connor McMichael took over a lot of the Ste-Agathe-des-Monts, Quebec product’s minutes alongside Tom Wilson and Aliaksei Protas, while McMichael and Hendrix Lapierre split time on the other top six line with Alex Ovechkin and Ryan Leonard.

Dylan Strome is already out of the lineup with a lower-body injury, and was a game-time decision for Friday’s game but ultimately did not draw in. Strome is a likely replacement for Dubois in the lineup for Saturday’s game against the Buffalo Sabres should Strome be healthy, and Dubois miss further time.

The Capitals will look to snap a three-game losing streak when they visit the Sabres in Buffalo on Saturday at 7 p.m. EST. Washington is currently sixth in the Metropolitan Division with a 6-5-0 record.