The Capitals made several transactions ahead of their Friday meeting with the Devils.
It was a busy morning for the Washington Capitals on Friday, as they made multiple moves before their showdown with the New Jersey Devils with injuries mounting and some names ready to go.
Washington recalled Nicolas Aube-Kubel from the AHL's Hershey Bears, with Anthony Mantha not on the road trip and now officially on the injured reserve after being struck in the head by a puck in Wednesday's loss to the Florida Panthers.
Aube-Kubel, who had been cut in training camp amid the rising play of Matthew Phillips, Beck Malenstyn and Aliaksei Protas, is back up in the NHL after starting the year in Hershey. He has one goal and two assists through 11 games in the AHL to start this season.
In addition to Aube-Kubel, Hunter Shepard has been brought up from Hershey. It is unclear if one of Washington's netminders is dealing with an injury or ailment between the pipes, but the team will have more information at its morning skate in Newark.
On the bright side for the Capitals, Nic Dowd has officially been activated from the injured reserve after missing the last nine games with an upper-body injury. He had core surgery over the offseason, but it is unclear if that is related to the ailment he has been dealing with to open 2023-24.
The Capitals face the Devils at 7 p.m. at Prudential Center and will take off immediately after for Long Island, where they'll face the New York Islanders at UBS Arena on Saturday.