The Washington Capitals got beat up by the Seattle Kraken 4-1 on Thursday night and were right back to work the next morning. Alex Ovechkin and ice-time leader John Carlson were amongst the team’s regulars that missed the practice.
Ovechkin was a game-time decision against the Kraken for the second-straight game. Carlson skated just under 25 minutes in the loss. The team says both players were absent for maintenance days.
Ovechkin played the second-most minutes (16:40) of any Capitals forward against Seattle. The Great Eight fired five shots on goal and extended his point streak to six games with an assist on Max Pacioretty’s first goal in over a year.
The big winger has now missed four practices in the new year since clanging legs with Carolina Hurricanes forward Jordan Staal on January 5. After missing five games due to injury last season, Ovechkin has played in all 39 of the team’s games so far this season.
Ovi still leads the team in scoring with 27 points (8g, 19a). Head coach Spencer Carbery called him “touch and go” during his media availability after Friday’s practice.
Carlson is skating the third-most minutes on average per game in the entire NHL (25:33). The 34-year-old blueliner skated over 25 minutes in a game seven times in the month of December. Like Ovechkin, Carlson has yet to miss a game this season.
The American rearguard is third on the team in scoring with 23 points (3g, 20a). Unlike Ovechkin, Carbery mentioned Carlson’s absence was more of just a true maintenance day. The rookie bench boss expects his number one defender to be fine for Saturday’s game against the New York Rangers.
Rasmus Sandin and Sonny Milano also missed the practice. Both players did get some light work in before the skate in non-contact jerseys but departed before drills started. Sandin was placed on injured reserve on Thursday so that the Capitals could activate TJ Oshie.
Sandin will be available to play whenever he is deemed healthy enough to do so as his IR designation is retroactive to January 5. Carbery called the Swede’s first foray back onto the ice a more “positive” step than Milano’s “status quo.”
Milano did not play on Thursday which was Chia Milano giveaway night at Capital One Arena. He hasn’t gotten into a game since December 10 and is still on injured reserve.
