Carlson ‘a little bit more back to normal’ after scary injury originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington

ARLINGTON, Va. — Defenseman John Carlson attended the Capitals’ home game against the Buffalo Sabres and was in good spirits when meeting with coaches, 11 days removed from a puck striking the side of his head and sending him to the hospital.

“I saw him last night,” head coach Peter Laviolette said at practice Wednesday. “He actually feels good. Still a long road for him, but he feels good, a little bit more back to normal, which is really good. He looked good to me. When we saw him the next day or the day after, I mean, oof. He looked good last night. He sounded good, he looked good, which was really positive for us to see as a team.”

The Capitals placed Carlson on Injured Reserve immediately following their holiday break, announcing that their star defenseman would be out “indefinitely.”

Winnipeg Jets defenseman Brenden Dillon, a former teammate of Carlson’s in D.C., fired a shot from the point that caught Carlson in the right side of his head. He went down immediately as blood poured onto the ice before a teammate brought him a towel and he skated off holding it to his face.

Carlson went to the hospital that night for “precautionary evaluation,” Laviolette said after the game. He was discharged the following day and his wife Gina posted a photo on Instagram of him with his three children on Christmas morning.

Laviolette caught up with him Tuesday night following the Capitals’ 5-4 overtime loss to the Sabres.

“Sometimes, just to see a guy at the rink raises spirits,” Laviolette said. “Especially if they’re in a good frame of mind and seem better than they were a week ago, which was John’s case. That was really positive.”