Sgarbossa was originally recalled by the Capitals ahead of Wednesday’s game against the Florida Panthers after center Evgeny Kuznetsov had missed the prior two days of practice. Kuznetsov, a game-time decision, ended up playing and Sgarbossa was healthy-scratched.
In addition to Sgarbossa’s demotion, the Capitals also announced that they placed defender Trevor van Riemsdyk on injured reserve.
The Capitals made their way to New Jersey on Thursday after holding a lightly attended, optional practice at MedStar Capitals Iceplex earlier in the day. The team will take on the Devils on Friday night and then head right to Long Island to visit the New York Islanders on Saturday.
As things currently stand, the Capitals are carrying just 11 forwards on their road trip as Anthony Mantha did not travel with the group due to the scary head injury he suffered against the Panthers. It is unknown yet if Nic Dowd made the plane up to Newark as that decision was reportedly to be made after Thursday’s skate.
Even if Dowd is traveling and good to play on Friday, the Capitals will likely recall another forward before the game against the Devils. Head coach Spencer Carbery made it known that he wants the team to have 13 forwards on their roster for the weekend’s back-to-back.
TvR heads to the injured reserve after not playing against Florida due to a lower-body injury he suffered against the Columbus Blue Jackets last week. The veteran blueliner has been skating but did not travel to New Jersey.
“Positive signs for him,” Carbery said Wednesday. “Not going to play tonight but we’ll see how he feels tomorrow and then into the weekend. Maybe the backend of the back-to-back but we’ll see.”
TvR heading onto the IR does free up an extra roster spot if the Capitals need to recall two players instead of just one.
Here’s the team’s press release on the moves:
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