Monday morning’s practice at Kettler seemed to be cursed already with the absence of Andre Burakovsky, but things went sour quickly as the Capitals ran drills.
With four days between games and the players fresh from a scheduled off day, Barry Trotz ran a high-paced practice Monday. The team saw two of its best offensive players get banged up in the process, including captain Alex Ovechkin. The 32-year-old, who leads the league in goals, is off to one of the best starts of his career with 10 tallies in nine games.
First, Jakub Vrana took a hard fall and appeared to injure his shoulder, but continued on.
Jakub Vrana went down hard during a drill. Clenching right shoulder in pain, but was looked at by a trainer and is continuing to skate.
— cara (@carabahniuk) October 23, 2017
But Murphy and his Law kept kicking when captain Alex Ovechkin also got injured during a 2 v 2 drill. Ovechkin got tangled up with a teammate and fell into the boards awkwardly. Ovi had to be helped off the ice but walked on his own to the locker room, limping.
Alex Ovechkin is down in pain after hitting the boards during a drill. Being helped off the ice but staying on the bench with a trainer.
— cara (@carabahniuk) October 23, 2017
Ovi headed back to the locker room walking on his own, but with a limp.
— cara (@carabahniuk) October 23, 2017
Ovechkin went down in practice. Limped to the locker room after getting looked at on the bench. #Caps
— Tarik El-Bashir (@TarikNBCS) October 23, 2017
The #Caps were doing a vigorous 2-on-2 small-ice battle drill when Ovechkin went down. Appeared to tangle legs with a teammate.
— Tarik El-Bashir (@TarikNBCS) October 23, 2017
After practice Barry Trotz said he believed Ovechkin is okay, but, like Rex Tillerson during his confirmation hearing, would need more information.
Trotz says he thinks Ovechkin is going to be okay but he wants to gather more info. #Caps
— Tarik El-Bashir (@TarikNBCS) October 23, 2017
Rex Tillerson needs more information. pic.twitter.com/XUjmkiGIwE
— VICE News (@vicenews) January 12, 2017
During the Capitals dog calendar photo shoot, Ovechkin believed he would be okay for practice Tuesday.
Ovechkin was walking around without a limp at the photo shoot.
— Isabelle Khurshudyan (@ikhurshudyan) October 23, 2017
As he left the photo shoot, Ovechkin said it's nothing serious. Got tangled up, lost an edge. He expects to practice tomorrow. #Caps
— Tarik El-Bashir (@TarikNBCS) October 23, 2017
With the Caps already missing their top defenseman Matt Niskanen and forward Tyler Graovac, they cannot afford any more injuries. Let’s hope everyone is okay.
Headline photo: Cara Bahniuk
