"Other than a fat lip," Washington Capitals forward Jay Beagle is fine, according to head coach Bruce Boudreau.
Beagle was involved in a fight with the Pittsburgh Penguins' Arron Asham during the third period of Washington's 3-2 overtime victory over Pittsburgh Thursday. Asham leveled Beagle with two straight punches, which sent the latter down to the ice bleeding profusely. Beagle did not return to the game and did not practice Saturday, but Boudreau said that Beagle wanted to.
"He's looking good," Boudreau said. "He's looking fine. He wanted to come out and practice. Talking to him this morning, I guess because of protocol, he wanted to come back last night. I think it looked a little bit worse than it was. I was really pleasantly surprised."
The protocol Boudreau was referring to was concussion protocol, which the NHL takes very seriously. Boudreau said that as far he knows, there are no concerns regarding a concussion or broken jaw. Whether Beagle can return to practice Saturday is up to the team's medical staff, according to Boudreau.