The Capitals defenseman was hurt on his final shift of the opening frame on Saturdaay.
Perry Nelson — Imagn ImagesRasmus Sandin will not return to the Washington Capitals' Saturday tilt against the Edmonton Oilers due to a lower-body injury suffered on his final shift of the first period.
With just around 10 seconds to go in the opening frame, Sandin was going after the puck in the defensive zone when he was taken hard into the boards by Curtis Lazar. Though he was hurting, he stayed in the play and got to the point, where he came up big to block a heavy point drive from Ty Emberson.
Sandin went down in visible pain as the buzzer sounded ending the first, and Alex Ovechkin and Aliaksei Protas had to help him off the ice before he limped down the tunnel.
The 25-year-old returned to the bench early in the second period, but did not take a shift as he stayed off to the side and spoke with athletic trainer Jason Serbus, still appearing to be in some discomfort. He ultimately went back down the tunnel and would be ruled out for the remainder of the night.
Losing Sandin is tough for Washington, as it takes away a key puck mover and contributor on the backend and leaves the team with just five defensemen to work with for the remainder of the night against the like of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.
Through 47 games this season, Sandin has two goals and 15 assists, including the one he had on Protas' game-tying goal in the final seconds of the first period. He also boasts a plus-minus rating of plus-5.