Tom Wilson, Brooks Laich Could Return From Injuries Friday

Injured Washington Capitals forwards Tom Wilson and Brooks Laich sported powder-blue, non-contact jerseys Tuesday morning while the rest of their teammates prepared for the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Neither will play, but both could return Friday against the New Jersey Devils if their respective recoveries remain on schedule. 

"Based on what the trainers have said, if they had a good day today, Friday is a possibility, yes," coach Barry Trotz said.

Wilson sustained a lower-body injury late in the first period of Washington's 4-3 overtime victory against the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday. He skated one shift in the second period before leaving the game.

"It happened late in the first, then tried to see how it felt at intermission, tried to go out in the second, then came up a little sore, so I decided to stay off it, take a couple days here," Wilson said, "[and] hopefully get it back to 100 percent for sometime this week."

The 20-year-old, who graduated to the first line last week, said that his current ailment is unrelated to the fractured left fibula that required surgery this offseason. He spent Sunday, an off-day for Washington, resting, and is waiting for the "tweak" to be completely healed before attempting to re-enter the lineup. 

"If you're not 100 percent, then you won't be 100 percent for a long time," he said. "It's the sort of thing you want to take care of. So many things can happen in a game, you can get hit so many different ways, you never know. You want to be pretty close to 100 percent if you're going to be battling night in and night out. That's what we’re waiting for.

"If I can't play my game effectively, it's not really helping anyone," he said. "I'm going to make sure I feel good before jumping back in there."

Meanwhile, Laich returned Friday against the Chicago Blackhawks after missing seven games with a shoulder injury. He, however, was a late scratch Saturday after aggravating said injury. He did not speak to reporters after participating in extra conditioning work with fellow injured forward Aaron Volpatti and scratched defenseman Jack Hillen.


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