Aliaksei Protas was cut by a skate blade in a game against the Chicago Blackhawks on April 5. Forced to take a month off to recover, Protas played in his first game back on Wednesday, helping the Capitals advance to the second-round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs after defeating the Montreal Canadiens in five games.
Protas only found out about the severity of his cut the following morning after the game against Chicago.
Sammi Silber took to X on Friday and reported how serious the cut was...
Protas found out how serious his skate cut injury was the next morning, he didn't really know what was going on and didn't feel how deep it went at the moment.
Said that he wanted to come back as soon as possible but needed more time out to avoid making it worse.
It will obviously take some time for Protas to get his legs back, and up to game speed.
He's currently playing on the Capitals fourth line alongside linemates Brandon Duhaime and Nic Dowd. It's only a matter of time until he gets bumped up in the lineup.
Protas had himself a career high 66 points (30 goals and 36 assists) in 76 games this season with the Capitals.