Dmitry Orlov is a noted perfectionist and last week, he committed the biggest off-ice mistake of his career. Orlov violated the NHL’s COVID-19 protocols when he hung out with Alex Ovechkin, Evgeny Kuznetsov, and Ilya Samsonov in the same hotel room. The decision forced Orlov out of four Capitals games and maybe a fifth tonight against the Boston Bruins.
“It’s up to the coaches but when you don’t skate for 10 days, it’s always hard to come back,” Orlov said after returning to MedStar Capitals Iceplex for the first time in 10 days. “Especially if everybody keep playing. They in good shape.”
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During the Capitals’ morning skate, Orlov skated on the extra defensive pairing with Martin Fehervary but admitted he didn’t feel great afterward. “I wish I feel better,” he said. “It is what it is right now.”
While out of the lineup, Orlov did his best to stay in shape at his home – even documenting some of his workouts on social media.
“You do some workouts or bike,” Orlov said. “I have synthetic ice in (garage). I try to skate there. It’s still different. It’s not what you play the game.”
Orlov got grim when discussing the challenges of quarantine. Just like Alex Ovechkin’s family, Orly’s wife Varvara and the couple’s son Kirill have remained in Russia during the NHL season.
“Don’t get crazy. Don’t kill myself at the house,” Orlov said. “It was tough… because my family not here. It doesn’t matter where I done it, still tough. You miss the team. You miss the games. It was tough. And I cannot say anything. I did some workouts. When you not playing, you’re not skating, it’s hard to come back and play right away.”
Just like teammate Alex Ovechkin, Orlov took the blame for violating the NHL’s rules.
“Obviously, it sucks,” Orlov said. “It happen. We spend the time together. We in protocol. It’s better that way. League and team make right decision if you get sick. Unfortunately, we did not do the right thing and why we were put in quarantine.”
The one bright spot was that the Capitals managed to go 3-0-1 with the four Russians out and several prospects and depth players got to prove their mettle in the NHL.
“They did a good job,” Orlov said. “They playing good hockey. A good comeback against the Islanders. We lost some guys, but some guys step up. It’s good for our team and future… It was nice, for me, to see them play good. It was hard for me to watch and not be with them.”
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