Darcy Kuemper of the Washington Capitals day to day with an upper body injury

The Washington Capitals have announced that goaltender Darcy Kuemper has been struggling daily with an upper body injury.

It’s unclear what caused the injury, as Kuemper played the entirety of Friday’s game against the St. Louis Blues, so either he tweaked something during the game that was playable but is now out, or it happened off the ice.

Kuemper allowed four goals on just 21 shots in that game against the Blues, putting the Caps down 4-0 in two periods, and a late surge gave the Caps only a few goals as they lost the game 5-2.

Kuemper is having a strong season in Washington, going 20-22-5, .911 save percentage and 10.53 5-on-5 goals above expectations. His save percentage isn’t quite up to his excellent career average of .917, but his 5-for-5 goals recorded above expectations show it has more to do with the Capitals team ahead. him than with his individual performance.

Charlie Lindgren started Sunday against the Minnesota Wild, with Zach Fucale serving as a backup. Going into the game, Lindgren is 13-8-2 on the year with a .903 save percentage and a .28 5-on-5 goal saved above expectations, while Fucale has a record. of 19-10-2 and an .899 save percentage in 33 games for the Hersey Bears in the AHL.

Kuemper was a sixth-round pick for the Minnesota Wild in 2009 and has spent 11 NHL seasons with the Wild, Los Angeles Kings, Arizona Coyotes, Colorado Avalanche and now the Capitals. He’s currently in the first year of a five-year, $5.25 million cap he signed with the Caps in free agency after winning the Stanley Cup with the Avalanche in 2022. .

It’s another injury the Capitals have dealt with this season, including current injuries to John Carlson, Connor Brown and Carl Hagelin. They are currently five points behind the Pittsburgh Penguins for the last wild card spot with a 33-30-7 record, although the Pens have two games in hand on them.