Alex Ovechkin (lower-body injury) and John Carlson (lower-body injury) participated in the Capitals morning skate but both appear unlikely to play against the Pittsburgh Penguins, Saturday night.
According to The Athletic’s Tarik El-Bashir, Ovechkin took forward line rushes as an extra while Carlson didn’t receive a spot on either power-play unit.
Ovechkin is taking line rushes but is skating as an extra, so… #Caps https://t.co/oZTJ88fZ7b
— Tarik El-Bashir (@Tarik_ElBashir) May 1, 2021
Carlson is watching PP practice instead of at the point, so… #Caps https://t.co/8fMFaT3Qcv
— Tarik El-Bashir (@Tarik_ElBashir) May 1, 2021
Here’s how the Capitals’ forward lines looked via the Washington Post’s Samantha Pell.
Capitals forward lines at AM skate:
Sprong-Kuznetsov-Wilson
Mantha-Backstrom-Oshie
Sheary-Eller-Raffl
Hagelin-Dowd-Hathaway*Ovechkin (lower-body) as the extra
— Samantha Pell (@SamanthaJPell) May 1, 2021
After practice, head coach Peter Laviolette, per NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti, said “we’ve got some decisions to make” with the starting lineup, but all evidence from the morning skate points to Ovi and Carly being out once again.
For Ovechkin, it would be his fourth straight game missed due to injury while Carlson would be out for his second straight.
Tonight’s game, like the previous four, is another big one. The Capitals and Penguins are tied for the East Division lead with 69 points each.
Headline photo: Elizabeth Kong/RMNB
