Capitals confirm the worst for Pierre-Luc Dubois.

The Washington Capitals have suffered a huge loss.

The Capitals have been playing without forward Pierre-Luc Dubois since late last month when he suffered what looked like a freak injury during a game against the New York Islanders. Dubois collapsed following a harmless looking faceoff and appeared to be in considerable pain as he left the ice, but even more concerning is the fact that there has been no real update on his status.

On Sunday we learned that those concerns were warranted when the Capitals announced what is likely the worst case scenario for both the player and the team. The Capitals revealed that Dubois had suffered injuries to his abdominal and adductor muscles, adding that he had already had corrective surgery to repair the damage. The biggest detail shared by the Capitals however was the fact that Dubois would miss the majority of the season, with a 3-4 month recovery time expected following his surgery.

From the Capitals:

[Capitals] forward Pierre-Luc Dubois underwent surgery on Friday, November 7, to address injuries to his abdominal and adductor muscles. Due to the nature of the procedure, Dubois is expected to miss 3-4 months.

Dubois effectively ressurected his National Hockey League career last season with the Capitals and showed himself to be a valuable part of their offense, making his loss all that much more difficult to manage. He was off to a slow start prior to the injury with no goals and no assists through 6 regular season games, but perhaps his time off in recovery will light a fire under him when he does eventually return from this terrible injury.