The Washington Capitals announced that center Nic Dowd will not travel with the team for their road trip over the weekend, which starts against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Amalie Arena on Thursday (7 PM ET, ESPN), due to an upper-body injury suffered in Washington’s 6-2 win over the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday. Left-wing Pierrick Dube was recalled from the AHL’s Hershey Bears on Wednesday and is expected to make his NHL debut in Tampa.
With Dowd out, Carbery says Protas will move to center—a position the big forward has played a bit in the past. Carbery also says he wants to see how Protas handles playing in the middle. #ALLCAPS
— Tarik El-Bashir (@Tarik_ElBashir) February 21, 2024
Dowd sustained the injury in the first period of Tuesday’s victory and did not return. The 33-year-old has eight goals, 16 points, a 48.9% faceoff-winning percentage, and 42% five-on-five expected goals-for percentage in 45 games this season.
Dowd has reportedly generated interest leading up to the NHL Trade Deadline, which is at 3 PM ET two weeks from Friday.
Dubé (press release), 23, has recorded 34 points (24g, 10a) in 50 games with Hershey this season. Dubé’s 24 goals lead the Bears and rank tied for the second most in the AHL. In addition, the Lyon, France native ranks tied for first on Hershey in game-winning goals (6) and fifth in points.
Dubé, who signed a two-year, two-way entry level contract with the Capitals on July 2, 2023, recorded 32 points (16g, 16a) in 44 games with the Laval Rocket of the AHL last season. The 5’9”, 185-pound forwardranked first among Laval rookies in points-per-game (0.73) and plus/minus (+10). Dubé also appeared in nine games with the Trois-Rivières Lions of the ECHL in 2022-23, recording 14 points (9g, 5a). In 94 career AHL games with Hershey and Laval, Dubé has registered 66 points (40g, 26a).
Prior to making his professional debut in 2021-22, Dubé recorded 149 points (75g, 74a) in 219 career games in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) with the Quebec Remparts, Chicoutimi Saguenéens and Shawinigan Cataractes, including a career-high 45 points (19g, 26a) in 56 games with Quebec in 2019-20. Before being teammates with Capitals prospect Hendrix Lapierre in Hershey, Dubé played with Washington’s 2020 first-round pick with Chicoutimi during the 2020-21 season.
Washington enters Wednesday six points out of a wild-card spot with a game in hand on the Detroit Red Wings (who hold the second) and three on Tampa Bay (who lead Washington by seven). They also trail the Philadelphia Flyers for third place in the Metropolitan Division by seven but have two games in hand.
By Harrison Brown