It looks like Milano was able to escape a scary hit with a minor injury. His "day-to-day" tag suggests that he will miss tonight's game in Detroit and makes him questionable for Thursday's game vs. the Kings and Saturday's game vs. the Devils.
Milano was hurt early in Saturday's game in Ottawa. He stumbled along the side-boards and it resulted in him taking an ugly hit from Mark Borowiecki. The Blue Jackets' medical staff had to help Milano off of the ice and it looks as if he could miss some time. Marko Dano was called up on Sunday and will replace Dano in the lineup on Monday.
The Canadiens do not have a back-to-back before the Christmas break, so Cayden Primeau will go to Laval to get some playing time and Lindgren comes up to backup Carey Price. Lindgren has gone 7-6-2 with a 2.67 GAA and .893 SV% in 16 AHL games.
McIlrath was sent down yesterday but with Dylan Larkin questionable and Andreas Athanasiou still out, the Red Wings may have to dress McIlrath as the seventh defenseman on Thursday.
McIlrath has failed to record a point in 16 games with the Red Wings this season. With McIlrath and Dennis Cholowski going back to Grand Rapids, Jonathan Ericsson and Alex Biega will play on Thursday.
Backstrom missed the last eight games with an upper-body injury but will be back in the lineup on Monday night. Backstrom skated on a line with Alex Ovechkin in Sunday's practice so look for him to skate there vs. the Blue Jackets.
Strome has missed the last four games with a concussion but will play Thursday in Boston. Strome will be back on the second-line with Alex DeBrincat and Patrick Kane and re-enters the lineup with 17 points (5G / 12A) in 23 games.
Backstrom has resumed skating with the team but will miss his sixth consecutive game with an upper-body injury. Washington is in Los Angeles tomorrow, so this should leave him questionable for the second half of the back-to-back.
Strome is feeling better but will miss his fourth consecutive game with concussion symptoms. With Strome still out, Andrew Shaw now listed on the injury report, and no cap space to call anyone up, Chicago will have to play with just 11 forwards and six defensemen on Monday.
Hagelin, who has been out since November 7th, is expected to miss one more week but will play next Tuesday in San Jose. Hagelin had a slow start to the season, posting just five assists in his first 17 games.
The Capitals are off until Wednesday but head coach Todd Reirden has already ruled Backstrom out. Lars Eller has played well over 20 minutes per game in two games without Backstrom.
Backstrom remains day-to-day with an upper-body injury, so Lars Eller will remain the second-line centre for at least one more game. After Saturday the Capitals are off until Wednesday, so Backstrom has a few days to get back to 100 percent before they face the Panthers.
Dowd's move to IR means he will miss at least one more game and it opens up a roster spot to call-up a forward to fill-in for Nicklas Backstrom, who is now dealing with an upper-body injury of his own.
Hagelin has been out since November 7th due to an upper-body injury and his move to LTIR means he'll have to miss at least four more games. The move helps the Capitals financially, as they're able to recall reinforcements from Hershey (AHL) to help fill the gaps left by injuries to Hagelin, Nic Dowd and Nicklas Backstrom.
Backstrom will not be in the lineup when the Capitals take on the Rangers on Wednesday night. This is the first we've heard about an upper-body injury for Backstrom, but Washington is labelling him as day-to-day for now. Lars Eller will likely move up to the second line and Michael Sgarbossa will draw into the lineup to replace Backstrom.
Sgarbossa has spent most of his career in the AHL, where he's been a prolific scorer, but has just 10 points (2G / 8A) in 48 career NHL games with the Avalanche, Ducks and Panthers. The 27-year-old forward has 14 points (7G / 7A) to lead Hershey through 17 games this season. He could replace Garnet Hathaway in the lineup on Wednesday if Hathaway gets suspended.
The Capitals will likely need to recall a forward to replace Dowd in the lineup on Friday night. Dowd suffered a deep cut on his hand in Philadelphia and will likely need a couple of days to let that heal before re-entering the Washington lineup.
Dowd has been out of the lineup for the last three games but will replace Carl Hagelin vs. the Golden Knights. Dowd will centre the fourth line and re-enters the lineup with two goals and one assist in 11 games this season.
