The Washington Capitals held practice on Tuesday morning after their 6-4 comeback victory over the Vancouver Canucks. They were without two top-six players.
Evgeny Kuznetsov and Connor Brown did not take the ice with their teammates as both are nursing undisclosed injuries per The Athletic’s Tarik El-Bashir.
Kuznetsov missed the skate due to what the Capitals termed “body maintenance.” (I’m personally not sure how to define that term so here’s Caps Twitter’s stab at it.) The Capitals’ first-line center also missed Monday’s morning skate for the same reason and was a game-time decision for the Canucks game. Kuznetsov ended up dressing for the game and had his biggest outing of the season, notching a hat trick of assists.
Behind the scenes, Kuznetsov also had a hearing with the NHL’s Department of Player Safety about his dangerous high stick of Canucks defenseman Kyle Burroughs in the second period of last night’s game.
Meanwhile, offseason trade acquisition Connor Brown left Monday’s game with a lower-body injury. The right winger was decked into the boards at neutral ice. Brown appeared to be holding his right leg as he got up and skated off toward the locker room.
Officially, the Capitals say they were still evaluating Brown during practice.
“We’ve got guys itching to play if it comes to that,” Laviolette said if Brown is unable to suit up Thursday against Ottawa. “Snively and McMichael have been working hard. These guys want to play. They don’t like being out of the lineup coming off of good training camps so they want to get back in. Once we get through the day, we’ll have a better understanding of what we’re dealing with inside the room.”
Update: Evgeny Kuznetsov was suspended one game for his dangerous high stick and will miss Thursday’s game against the Ottawa Senators.
Headline photo: Alan Dobbins/RMNB
