On the day he signed a three-year contract extension, Washington Capitals defenseman Nick Jensen left the first period of the team’s game against the Anaheim Ducks with an injury.
Jensen left the game early in the first period and was eventually ruled out with an upper-body injury.
INJURY UPDATE: #Caps Nick Jensen sustained an upper body injury and will not return to tonight’s game.
— CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) March 2, 2023
Jensen skated just 2:29 of ice time on three shifts before leaving the game. His last shift lasted all of 17 seconds before he exited the game.
Jensen appears to have sustained the injury while chasing a puck into the corner and colliding with Ducks’ defenseman Simon Benoit. Jensen’s left shoulder took the brunt of the collision.
Nick Jensen injury. #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/jWbVOegX6L
— #ALLCAPS (@JonItBe) March 2, 2023
Jensen, a pending unrestricted free agent at the conclusion of the 2022-23 season and a possible candidate to be dealt, signed a three-year, $12.15 million deal to remain in Washington through the 2025-26 campaign earlier in the day on Wednesday.
“It’s exciting”, said Jensen of his new deal ahead of the Caps’ Wednesday night tilt agains the Anaheim Ducks, “It’s been a tough time here the last week, losing guys, you’re brothers in the locker room. It’s hard to be happy with that stuff going on but I’m excited to be here, I’m excited to stick around, I’m excited to see what the future has in store for us on this team.
“When I got here, I immediately saw the culture that this organization has built”, Jensen said of why he decided to re-up with the Capitals, “The guys in the room right now, and the guys before, it’s a winning culture. As long as we continue to keep that culture I’m excited to be here, obviously we’re not in the spot we want to be in this season, but as long as that culture continues to remain, guys continue to work for each other, I think it’s going to be a good thing for our team.”
The Capitals will have the day off on Thursday and next hit the ice on Friday for practice in Northern California. They next face the San Jose Sharks on Saturday.