The Washington Capitals have recalled forward Liam O’Brien from the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League (AHL), senior vice president and general manager Brian MacLellan announced today.

The O’Brien recall is in response to a pair of injuries the Capitals sustained in Tuesday night’s game with the Maple Leafs. Both Evgeny Kuznetsov and Nic Dowd would leave the game due to injuries sustained in the contest. Kuznetsov would return to the game but Dowd did not.

Capitals head coach Todd Reirden announced after practice on Friday that Kuznetsov was fine and will play in Friday nights game against the Sabres. Nic Dowd will not play, and is currently listed as “day-to-day”.

FROM CAPITALS MEDIA RELEASE

O’Brien, 24, has registered two points (one goal, one assist) and 28 penalty minutes in 17 career games with the Capitals. The 6’1”, 215-pound forward made his NHL debut on Oct. 9, 2014 against Montreal, earned his first NHL point with an assist on Oct. 14, 2014 against San Jose and scored his first careerNHL goal on Oct. 26, 2014 at Vancouver.

This year with Hershey, the Halifax, Nova Scotia, native has three goals in nine games and leads the Bears with 13 penalty minutes.

In 74 games with Hershey last season, O’Brien recorded 28 points (15g, 13a), ranked fifth on the team in goals and second in penalty minutes (118).

O’Brien has earned 111 points (56g, 55a) and 568 penalty minutes in 320 career AHL games with Hershey.

O’Brien signed with Washington as a free agent on Oct. 6, 2014 and re-signed on June 10, 2019.