The Washington Capitals announced on Monday that defenseman John Carlson will not play in the round-robin opener against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. Radko Gudas will draw onto the second pairing with Michal Kempny.

#Caps John Carlson will not play today vs Tampa Bay.

— CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) August 3, 2020

Capitals’ lines and pairs:

Capitals lines vs Lightning, per team

Ovechkin-Kuznetsov-Wilson
Vrana-Backstrom-Oshie
Hagelin-Eller-Kovalchuk
Panik-Dowd-Hathaway

Dillon-Orlov
Kempny-Gudas
Siegenthaler-Jensen

Holtby

— Samantha Pell (@SamanthaJPell) August 3, 2020

Head coach Todd Reirden said earlier today that the 30-year-old defenseman was going to be a game-time decision. Carlson did receive more treatment Saturday night. He left Wednesday’s exhibition game after crashing into the boards in the third period with a Carolina Hurricanes skater. His legs got tangled in his skates but he skated off and was able to make it down the tunnel on his own. The defenseman missed Thursday’s practice but returned to the ice on Saturday.

By Della Young