Theodore Deals With Back Spasms

The Washington Capitals received encouraging news Friday regarding the health of José Theodore, who received a diagnosis of mild back spasms after leaving Thursday's game before the start of the second period.

What remains unclear, though, is how much time the goaltender will miss.

Theodore said he experienced stiffness in his lower back during warmups before the Capitals' 4-1 victory over the San Jose Sharks. What began as discomfort, however, gave way to a "sharp, sharp pain" that forced him to the locker room.

"It's a little stiff and I don't have much flexibility in the lower back area," said Theodore, who is treating the spasms with anti-inflammatory medication and massage therapy. "I'm not concerned at this point, right now. It's just making sure it doesn't come back when I go out there."

Coach Bruce Boudreau said Theodore, who played well in his previous two starts and stopped 12 of 13 shots against the Sharks before leaving the game, isn't expected to suit up for Saturday's contest against the Nashville Predators at Verizon Center. That, in all likelihood, means rookie Semyon Varlamov will get his first start since being pulled Oct. 6 in Philadelphia. Varlamov stopped all 15 shots he faced in relief of Theodore against the Sharks.

With Theodore sidelined, the team is expected to recall 2008 fourth-round draft pick Braden Holtby from the South Carolina Stingrays of the ECHL instead of top prospect Michal Neuvirth. Neuvirth instead remained with Hershey of the American Hockey League and made his first start of the season for the Bears on Friday night after missing three weeks with a hip injury.

To squeeze Holtby and his $725,555 contract under the $56.8 million salary cap ceiling, the Capitals placed Tomas Fleischmann on the long-term injured list, retroactive to the start of the season. That means Fleischmann must miss at least three more games, but that was probably going to happen anyway as the winger recovers from a blood clot in his leg.

As for Theodore, he had just settled into a groove and looked sharp again in the opening minutes against the Sharks. Then he experienced a jabbing pain in his lower back after making a kick save early in the first period.

"It was the sciatic nerve that was kind of jammed, so it was just sharp, sharp pain every time I was going down or pushing out," Theodore said. "There was 10 or 12 minutes left, so I decided not to leave in the middle of the period."

He said he had a similar injury two years ago -- but on the other side -- and ended up missing two starts over the course of about a week. After Saturday's game, the Capitals don't play again until Thursday, so it's possible he'll miss only one start, though the unpredictable nature of a muscle injury in the lower back means it could linger.

"There's never a good time for an injury, but the timing is good because we don't play again until" at Atlanta, Theodore said. "I'm going to get a couple of days to work on it, a couple of good days of skating and get back in there as quick as possible."

Boudreau said the team doesn't consider Theodore's injury to be serious, but they are going to take every precaution to ensure it doesn't become a long-term issue.