The Capitals blueliner's injury is not serious, and Eyssimont explained what happened on the knee-to-knee hit that ended Sandin's run at Worlds.
WASHINGTON -- The Washington Capitals breathed a collective sigh of relief to start the summer, as general manager Brian MacLellan shared on Thursday that Rasmus Sandin's knee injury suffered at the IIHF World Championship is not serious.
The Capitals defenseman was skating the puck out of the defensive zone in Sweden's round robin game against Team USA when Mikey Eyssimont went in for a hit that resulted in a knee-on-knee collision.
Sandin went down in visible pain and was helped off the ice, and suffered a setback at practice a day later that held him out for the quarterfinal game against Latvia and ultimately ended his Worlds run.
Eyssimont, who was assessed a major penalty and game misconduct, was suspended for one game.
Looking back at the play, Eyssimont told SportBladet that he reached out to Sandin to apologize, and that he did not intend to injure the Swede on the play.
"I hate to see someone get hurt, and I hate to be the person who causes it," the Tampa Bay Lightning forward said. "The siutation is part of hockey. I've never tried to hurt anyone in my career. I'm not messing around on the ice."
Eyssimont also explained that it all happened fast and that his only intention was to have an intense shift.
"It was two shifts into the game, and I tried to play hard and forecheck hard," he shared. "It was a lot of adrenaline, and it came late when I was going to stop him at the boards. It sucks."
Eyssimont added that he and Sandin had a good conversation, and he was happy to hear that the injury wasn't as severe as initally thought.
"I wish him all the best and that he can rehabilitate quickly. He's obviously a fantastic player and I hope to see him on the ice again soon," he added.
Sandin was playing top-pairing minutes at Worlds and carrying over a strong finish to the 2022-23 NHL campaign. The 23-year-old was traded to the Capitals back in February and broke out with 15 points in 19 games. His hope is to remain in Washington long-term and establish himself as a core top-4 defenseman.