When the Washington Capitals wrap up the first half of their season on Thursday night in New Jersey they will be without one of their top forwards.
T.J. Oshie will not be in the lineup against the Devils after leaving the team to fly home to attend to an undisclosed family matter.
Veteran forward Jay Beagle was taking Oshie spot on the right side of the team’s top line at the morning skate.
Oshie has missed some time this season due to injury, but when in the lineup he has been one of the Capitals’ most productive players. He is the team’s fourth leading scorer (32 points) even though he has missed eight games. His 0.80 point per game average is also third on the team behind only linemates Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom.
Along with Oshie being out of the lineup on Thursday, defenseman John Carlson is also expected to be sidelined again and is likely to miss his sixth consecutive game.
The Capitals are coming off of a 3-0 shutout loss in Ottawa on Tuesday night, their first regulation loss in nearly a month.
They enter Thursday’s game in New Jersey with the best record in the NHL and have won 12 of their past 14 games.
