Alex Ovechkin missed the Capitals’ morning skate Saturday ahead of their second of three showdowns against the New York Islanders.
Ovechkin did not play at the end of the third period or overtime of the Capitals’ 1-0 shootout win, Thursday. The next day, Ovi did not participate in the team’s optional skate and was officially announced to be day-to-day with a lower-body injury.
The Washington Post’s Samantha Pell reported the happenings from practice.
Alex Ovechkin (lower-body) is not on the ice for morning skate after he was unavailable in the late stages of the Capitals’ Thursday game vs Isles.
— Samantha Pell (@SamanthaJPell) April 24, 2021
According to Pell, Daniel Sprong took Ovi’s spot on the first line with Evgeny Kuznetsov and Tom Wilson.
Capitals forward lines at AM skate w/o Ovechkin:
Sprong-Kuznetsov-Wilson
Mantha-Backstrom-Oshie
Sheary-Eller-Raffl
Hagelin-Dowd-Hathaway— Samantha Pell (@SamanthaJPell) April 24, 2021
After the skate, Peter Laviolette would not officially rule Ovi out of the game.
Capitals coach Peter Laviolette didn't rule out Alex Ovechkin (lower body) playing tonight vs. the Islanders, though he did not participate in the morning skate.
"We're working through some things in the room, including him."
— Tom Gulitti (@TomGulittiNHL) April 24, 2021
If the Russian machine misses the game, it’ll only be the 17th game of his NHL career that he’s missed due to injury.
Headline photo: Elizabeth Kong/RMNB
