The Washington Capitals took the ice on Tuesday morning for the first time since they suffered a rough 5-2 defeat to the Arizona Coyotes on Sunday afternoon. The Capitals got their first practice of two in before a matchup with the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday and the trade deadline on Friday.
Notably missing from the ice during the skate were Alex Ovechkin and John Carlson. Both veterans were absent for maintenance days after skating a combined 47:23 of ice time against Arizona. Lessening the load on older members of the roster who play a lot of minutes could become more regular as the Capitals enter the final months of the season.
Carlson leads the team in average time on ice per game (25:51) while Ovechkin leads all forwards (19:15). Carlson is also one of just two Capitals to have played in all 60 games so far this season, with Ovechkin also missing just three.
Head coach Spencer Carbery revealed no concern for the two franchise legends, not commenting on them while sharing injury updates after the practice. However, Carbery did have news on a handful of other names, starting with Nic Dowd.
“I think he’s getting pretty close,” Carbery said. “That’s the farthest he’s gone in a day from a standpoint of full practice. Still wearing the non-contact but very close. I’m not sure if Pittsburgh is realistic but he’s getting there.”
Dowd has been out of the lineup since suffering an upper-body injury against the New Jersey Devils on February 20. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman surmised on Monday that the Capitals are taking things very slow with Dowd to try and keep him healthy before the trade deadline.
Carbery also had a brief update on Martin Fehervary who has not played since suffering a lower-body injury against the Montreal Canadiens on February 17.
“He took part in some of the stuff,” Carbery said. “I was actually encouraged to see him do some of the even strength, two on two type of stuff. He played some line rushes. We’ll see how that goes. We have another practice day tomorrow.”
TJ Oshie also skated by himself before practice for the first time since his scary, non-contact injury. Carbery was happy to see the progress but still listed the veteran winger as “week-to-week.”
Beginning on Thursday, the Capitals will play 13 games in 24 days, eight of which will be on the road, including a Canadian tour. The Capitals head into the stretch sitting fifth in the Metropolitan Division, one point behind the New York Islanders and three behind the Philadelphia Flyers.
