- Pierre-Luc Dubois fractured his hand in Washington’s April 11 win over Pittsburgh.
- He dressed the next night anyway for Alex Ovechkin’s final home game at Capital One Arena.
- Read below for his timeline, the World Championship fallout, and what comes next.
Pierre-Luc Dubois finished a brutal season the hard way. The Washington Capitals center told reporters Thursday that he fractured his hand in Game 80 against the Pittsburgh Penguins and still dressed for the rematch the following night.
Dubois crashed into the end boards behind the Penguins net on April 11 after feeding Ryan Leonard for a goal. He was pulled from the game shortly after the hit.
He played through it 24 hours later in what turned out to be Ovechkin’s final home game. Washington shut out Pittsburgh 3-0 that night, as detailed in our recap of Ovechkin’s post-game remarks on retirement.
“I fractured my hand, so I’m talking to a doctor tomorrow,” Dubois said on Thursday, per RMNB. “So that would be a month-to-two-month thing. Hopefully no surgery.”
The broken hand capped the most injury-plagued year of Dubois’s career. He underwent abdominal and adductor surgery on Nov. 7 and missed 52 games before returning Feb. 5. The 27-year-old centerman finished with 19 points on five goals and 14 assists in 29 games.
Before this year, Dubois had never played fewer than 73 games in a non-COVID season.
The fracture also knocks him off Team Canada for the World Championship, a tournament he’s represented four times. He said it’s the first spring of his career without either playoffs or international hockey on the calendar.
Ryan Leonard wrapped his rookie year at 20 goals, including the one Dubois set up before the collision. Dubois said he’d make the same call and play through again.
“Everybody’s banged up to a certain extent,” he said. “It hurt, but I’d do it again if I had to.”
Washington’s offseason now includes a hand specialist visit and a center who’s due for a clean summer.
