Noon Playoff Notes (Apr 16)

The Washington Capitals announced on Monday morning that forward Andre Burakovsky will not join the team for their trip to Columbus for Games 3 and 4 against the Blue Jackets. Burakovsky suffered an upper-body injury in the 1st period of Game 2 and was unable to return and it sounds like it is a significant injury, one that will force him to miss time.  With the Capitals already down 2-0 in the series, heading away to Columbus, this could be a tough slog, especially with one of their top forwards.

Burakovsky has yet to register a point in the first two games of the series, of course with Game 2 cut short, and his absence will disappoint seven teams in the hockey pool.

A note that was missed earlier over the weekend, as the Colorado Avalanche were without standout rookie defenseman Samuel Girard, as he suffered an upper-body injury in Game 1 and was unable to play in Game 2.  He's currently listed as out day-to-day and he wasn't on the ice for Monday morning's pregame skate, ahead of Game 3 at home tonight.  It sounds like the team will maintain some radio silence on this one, saying that he's day-to-day.

Girard was overlooked in the hockey pool, which may have been the leading cause of his absence on the blog... but who can really say for sure?

The New Jersey Devils are going to welcome Marcus Johansson back to the lineup on Monday night, as they try and make their mark on their series against the Lightning. Johansson, a non-pool forward, is returning from a concussion and he will be made way by Box 18 forward Michael Grabner.

This doesn't warrant a whole bunch of fanfare, since the Devils were not very popular this year, it's going to be more about just staying consistent through the pool.