The Washington Capitals, who will play their final game of the regular season on Tuesday against the Boston Bruins, made a flurry of roster moves in the morning and later changed up the lines during practice to accommodate several players who were still missing.
The Capitals began the day by assigning Martin Fehervary, who is likely to be a black ace during the playoffs, to the team’s taxi squad along with Pheonix Copley and forward Philippe Maillet. The team also re-assigned Paul LaDue and Michael Sgarbossa to Hershey.
ROSTER MOVES #Caps made the following transactions today:
Re-assigned defenseman Martin Fehervary, goaltender Pheonix Copley and forward Philippe Maillet from Hershey to the taxi squad
Assigned defenseman Paul LaDue and forward Michael Sgarbossa from the taxi squad to Hershey
— CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) May 10, 2021
A few hours later during practice, the Capitals saw several big names return to the ice after sitting out Saturday’s 2-1 (OT) win against the Philadelphia Flyers. Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, and John Carlson — all three who are on the mend from lower-body injuries — participated in the skate. Ovechkin and Backstrom skated on the first line during line rushes, meaning they could play Tuesday, while Carlson skated on the extra pair with Fehervary.
Capitals at practice today:
Ovechkin-Backstrom-Mantha
Sheary-Eller-Raffl
Sprong-*Maillet-Wilson
Hagelin-Dowd-Hathaway
*CarrOrlov-Schultz
Dillon-TvR
Chara-Jensen
Fehervary-CarlsonVanecek
Anderson
*Fucale*taxi squad
— Tom Gulitti (@TomGulittiNHL) May 10, 2021
Carlson did, however, suit up on the team’s first power-play unit.
Capitals power play units:
PP1: Ovechkin, Carlson, Backstrom, Mantha, Wilson
PP2: Eller, Orlov, Schultz, Sheary, Sprong
— Samantha Pell (@SamanthaJPell) May 10, 2021
TJ Oshie missed the skate after suffering a lower-body injury in the second period of Saturday’s game. Tom Wilson, who also got injured in the game but returned, took rushes on the third line with Daniel Sprong and Philippe Maillet.
The Capitals are still without Evgeny Kuznetsov and Ilya Samsonov, who both remain on the NHL’s COVID-19 Unavailability List after being suspended by the team for disciplinary reasons.
Zach Fucale, who performed so well in Hershey this season that he earned a two-year contract extension, was the team’s third goaltender during practice.
Headline photo: Elizabeth Kong/RMNB
