The Washington Capitals took to the ice in New York for their first practice on the road after downing the Islanders on Saturday. The team had a scheduled day off on Sunday and will play the Rangers on Tuesday night.

One player notably absent on Monday was Caps captain Alex Ovechkin. According to The Washington Post’s Roman Stubbs, Ovechkin took a maintenance day.

Ovechkin played 19:49 of ice time in the win over the Isles and assisted on Anthony Mantha’s third-period tally.

The Great Eight taking maintenance days hasn’t exactly become uncommon as the 37-year-old looks to remain fresh late in his career. He took several days off last season around the winter months to prepare for what he had hoped to be a longer spring.

This season, he sat out a practice in early October after the preseason and later a morning skate in January. That missed morning skate did turn into Ovechkin fully missing that night’s game against the Vegas Golden Knights with what the team called a “lower-body injury”.

Ovechkin has missed five games this season and the Caps have lost all five by a combined score of 22 to 9.

Ovi wasn’t the only forward not on the ice as Sonny Milano did not practice due to coming down with a non-COVID illness. Milano played 10:52 of ice time against the Isles and his father, Frank Milano, read out the starting lineups in the locker room before the game.

Milano even received the yellow rope from TJ Oshie that the team usually hands out to their chosen player of the game due to his dad’s pregame efforts.

The Caps are currently only carrying one extra forward in Aliaksei Protas but do have room on their roster for a recall if they need it. They would not need to make a corresponding move of any sort to fit the player under the 23-man limit.

Headline photo: Alan Dobbins/RMNB