Capitals defenseman John Carlson enters COVID protocol

The Washington Capitals got some good news when Dmitry Orlov and Carl Hagelin were activated ahead of Sunday’s game, but it won’t be all roses. John Carlson has been added to the COVID protocol and is unavailable Sunday.

Of note, Tarik El-Bashir of The Athletic tweets that Carlson was actually late to the warm-up for yesterday’s game while awaiting test results, but ultimately played in the game. The veteran defenseman played nearly 24 minutes in the Capitals’ victory over the New York Islanders.

With Carlson coming out, Orlov will be in and skating on the top pairing with Trevor van Riemsdyk. Alex Ovechkin is now the only player on the entire Capitals roster to play in every game. Washington takes on the reeling Vancouver Canucks Sunday afternoon as they continue their chase for the top of the Metropolitan Division.