The Washington Capitals took the ice at MedStar Capitals Iceplex on Monday for their second-straight day of practice. The Caps don’t play again until Wednesday when the Philadelphia Flyers will be in town.

TJ Oshie fully participated in practice for a second straight day. Oshie hasn’t been on the ice for a game since October 29 in Nashville when he suffered a lower-body injury that was supposed to keep him out “indefinitely” and a long time.

Here is how the team took their rushes via NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti.

Outside of Garnet Hathaway returning from his Monday absence due to personal reasons, the forward lines remain the exact same from that prior practice. With Connor McMichael’s return to Hershey, Oshie appears to be the one to take that open roster spot against the Flyers.

In nine games this season, Oshie recorded five points (2g, 3a). He has skated over 48 minutes at five-on-five with Evgeny Kuznetsov this season and the team hasn’t seen the best results in those minutes. They’ve been out-attempted 52 to 36, out-scoring chanced 21 to 20, and out-high danger chanced 15 to 10.

Osh is BACK. pic.twitter.com/cE1n5bkxDM

— Emily Longtin (@Emily_Longtin) November 21, 2022

The main changes to the lineup come on the defensive side of things. After being involved in Sunday’s skate, Dmitry Orlov was not on the ice at all on Monday. Orlov has not played since suffering his own lower-body injury against the Arizona Coyotes on November 5. The Russian blueliner has been off and on the ice seemingly on an alternating basis since then.

Orlov’s absence forces Erik Gustafsson back to the top pair with John Carlson. The two ultra-offensive defensemen have been paired together by head coach Peter Laviolette in recent weeks. While the Caps have out-attempted teams 86 to 71 in those 69 five-on-five minutes with the two on the ice, they have also been outscored 7 to 3 and hold a minus-9 high-danger chance differential.

Headline photo via @Emily_Longtin/Twitter