The Washington Capitals took the ice for practice on Monday and head coach Peter Laviolette put the whole lineup into a blender after four consecutive regulation losses.
Among those changes was the reincorporation of Nic Dowd into full line rushes. Dowd officially shed his dark blue non-contact jersey for the first time at the skate and was given his fourth-line center role back.
Dowd has been in the mix at practice for a full week now but told NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti that this was “his first full practice in six weeks.” He took rushes next to good buddy Garnet Hathaway and an interchanging Aliaksei Protas and Nicolas Aube-Kubel.
Laviolette gave a bit of an update on his center after practice. He hinted that Dowd could play against the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday.
“He changed the color [of his jersey],” Laviolette said. “He’s involved in the lines. He is definitely getting closer.”
When asked specifically about Dowd’s availability against Detroit, the veteran bench boss said he needed to “go in and talk about things.”
Dowd has been out of the lineup since suffering a lower-body ailment in a game against the New York Islanders on January 16. At the Stadium Series game on Saturday, the unavailable Dowd was spotted tossing a football back and forth with fans near the ice.
The 32-year-old center has been excellent for the Caps this season. His next goal will tie his career high in a single season (11). His goal-scoring rate per 60 five-on-five minutes (1.32) is higher than Alex Ovechkin’s (1.10), and when he’s on the ice opponents score at a rate against him lower than all but three Caps forwards.
Headline photo: Alan Dobbins/RMNB
