Washington Capitals coach Adam Oates says forward Martin Erat will not play in Game 5 of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series against the New York Rangers tonight. The puck will drop at 7:30pm and you can watch the live action by clicking here.
Erat left game 4 on Wednesday with an upper-body injury with 1:34 remaining in the first period after a hard hit with teammate Alex Ovechkin and rangers Forward Derek Stepan.
The first-round Stanley Cup Playoff Series is tied at 2-2.
"We were just getting comfortable together," said Capitals forward Mike Ribeiro. "Obviously it's an injury that hopefully won't drag too long. But I think before he got here we had good momentum with the guys we have here and the lines we had. There's always someone to step up to those places. That's how hockey is. Someone gets injured, someone has a chance to come up and do right."
Prospect Tom Wilson will Replace Erat and make his first team debut in tonights game.
Wilson will become the fourth player in franchise history to make his NHL debut in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
"I was talking to a couple of the guys, and to be able to play your first NHL game as a playoff game, in Game 5 in such a huge series against such a great hockey club, is pretty special," Wilson said. "There really aren't any words to describe it. I'm pretty excited."
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