Darcy Kuemper Injury “Not Ideal”, Says Capitals Coach

Darcy Kuemper has started in goal for eight of the Washington Capitals' 14 games to date, but it appears that they'll have to make do without him for a while. 

Kuemper suffered an injury in practice on Wednesday that Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery called "not ideal."

"I saw it happen," Carbery said, per Tom Gulitti of nhl.com. "It was a shot from sort of behind him that hits him and, usually when that happens, you know it hit him in a spot where he didn't have padding, whether that was the back of the leg, knee, we'll just have to find that out."

The 33-year-old starting netminder was already battling an undisclosed injury, limiting his ice time recently. He has a 3.07 goals against with an .892 save percentage. 

Charlie Lindgren has been rock solid in his four games thus far, and will take over the starting duties in Kuemper's absence. The 29-year-old Lindgren has a 1.76 GAA and a .947 SV% in his starts, including a 3-0 shutout of the defending Cup champs, the Vegas Golden Knights, on Tuesday.  

Kuemper is in his 12th NHL season, and sports a solid 2.56 GAA and .916 SV% across 346 games with five different teams. He was a 6th-round pick by Minnesota in the 2009 Draft.

Photo: David Kirouac-USA TODAY Sports