The Washington Capitals have just five games remaining on their schedule and could be without one of their top defensemen for the rest of the season.

Rasmus Sandin was unable to finish Sunday night’s game against the Ottawa Senators due to an upper-body injury. Sandin absorbed a questionable hit from Senators forward Parker Kelly late in the first period.

Head coach Spencer Carbery shared postgame that he expected Sandin to “miss some time.” The rookie bench boss was asked for another update on the Swedish blueliner after practice on Monday and revealed that Sandin could miss the team’s remaining five games.

“Possible, but we’ll see,” Carbery said. “Definitely not on the road trip, not traveling. It’s getting limited. Once we get back [there aren’t many games left].”

The Capitals are headed to Detroit to play the Red Wings on Tuesday night in another game with massive playoff implications. They’ll then head to Buffalo to play the Sabres on Thursday before returning home to play the first of three games in four nights to end their schedule.

Sandin averages 21:07 of ice time per game for the Capitals which ranks second on the team behind John Carlson (25:45). Carbery was asked how missing him will impact the team headed into must-win situations this week.

“Second unit PP, [Trevor van Riemsdyk] will fill in there,” Carbery said. “And [Sandin] logs a ton of five-on-five minutes for us. Vinny Iorio will step up and go into the lineup, so [Alex Alexeyev] will play a little bit more minutes. Riemer moving to the left side now, so a different look, but some more opportunity for some young guys to step in and step up at a big moment for our team.”

Iorio has gotten into one game since being recalled by the club on March 27. Alexeyev averages just 12:45 of ice time per game which is the least among all of the team’s regular blueliners this year.

According to their head coach, the Capitals will also be making a corresponding recall from the AHL’s Hershey Bears before they head out on their trip. Hershey does not play again until Friday night after they swept a weekend set of games in Iowa against the Wild.

Carbery spoke about the challenge that these young players will be facing as they play a bigger role during the most important games of the season.

“These are the most difficult circumstances of the year, playing in the most intense (games), stakes are high, but I look at it the other way,” he said. “These are the opportunities that these guys have craved the entire season and wanted and thought about in the summer and thought about in training camp. And when they sat in the stands or when they played in Hershey, they wanted these opportunities to play in the NHL in meaningful games and prove that they can excel and be serviceable in these spots.”

“Not asking for them to save the world. Just need serviceable minutes, do the things that they need to do from an individual standpoint of moving pucks well, making sure their decisions are good, especially exiting our zone and defending really, really well. And if they do that at a high level, that’s how you get your career rolling in the right direction.”

The Capitals will go into Detroit one point behind the Red Wings for the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference. The two teams met two weeks ago in DC and Dylan Strome provided the overtime winner in a 4-3 victory for the Capitals.