Although he did not make the Capitals road trip to Nashville and Philadelphia, Capitals forward TJ Oshie took the ice yesterday for the first time since he was hurt against the Islanders on January 15.

According to The Washington Post’s Samantha Pell, Oshie skated with Anthony Mantha and the plan is for both recovering forwards to continue to skate while the team is on the road.

Oshie, who has 13 points in 18 games this season has missed the Caps last twelve games. At the time of his injury, he was considered day-to-day but it’s clear that his status worsened and he’s been working off-ice to get back over the past couple of weeks. He is still currently on injured reserve.

8 years ago today, TJ Oshie became a national LEGEND 🇺🇸🦅

The Washington Capitals and Team USA forward went head-to-head six times in a shootout vs. Russian goalie Sergei Bobrovsky before finally winning it in the eighth round

(via @NBCSportsHockey)pic.twitter.com/8SISMfq97n

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) February 15, 2022

Pell also reports that goaltender Vitek Vanecek watched the Caps optional morning skate from the bench in full goalie gear and appeared ready to get some work in as he continues to recover from his own upper-body injury, suffered February 1 against the Penguins. Caps head coach Peter Laviolette confirmed Ilya Samsonov will stay in net against the Predators.

Samsonov has a 2-2 record in five February appearances with a 3.65 goals-against average and a .905 save percentage.

The Predators are 28-16-4 this season and currently sit third in the NHL’s Central Division. They’ve lost two straight and three of their last four, but have taken the Caps down in every matchup between the two teams in Nashville since the 2015-16 season.

Headline photo: Cara Bahniuk/RMNB