Washington Capitals forward Evgeny Kuznetsov left Wednesday's game against the Winnipeg Jets in the first period with an upper-body injury and will be reevaluated on Thursday.

Capitals head coach Todd Reirden said after the game that Kuznetsov was taken out for precautionary reasons after what he described as a "blow to the head".

Kuznetsov left after taking an illegal check to the head from Jets defenceman Brandon Tanev. Tanev received a penalty on the play.

The 26-year-old has six goals and 15 assists over 17 games this season, his sixth with the Caps.

Kuznetsov is coming off a career season in 2017-18 where he scored 27 goals and 56 assists over 79 games.