The Washington Capitals held their morning skate on Tuesday before a huge matchup with the Detroit Red Wings on home ice. Present for the practice was forward Sonny Milano after he left early during the team’s win over the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday afternoon.
Milano ended up staying on the ice for some extra work in the usual scratches skate with Ethan Bear and the suspended Tom Wilson. Head coach Spencer Carbery was asked in his post-skate media availability if that means the winger will not feature against the Red Wings.
“Today, we’ll see how it goes,” Carbery said. “I’m not going to rule him completely out yet. We’ll see how the skate went this morning and then make a decision later on this afternoon.”
Milano took just four shifts in the game against Winnipeg before being ruled out due to an upper-body injury. He skated 2:37 of ice time in his first outing after recording his first career hat trick against the Carolina Hurricanes. There was no obvious play where Milano was injured.
The 27-year-old forward has seven goals in the month of March and 20 total points (13g, 7a) on the season in 39 games. He missed over two months of action earlier in the year with an upper-body injury.
According to The Washington Post’s Bailey Johnson, Bear and Wilson stuck around for a bag skate long after everyone else had departed to the locker room. Milano did not join them perhaps indicating that he will be a true game-time decision against Detroit.
Puck drop against the Red Wings is slated for 7 pm. The Capitals currently sit one point ahead of Detroit for the second wild card playoff position in the Eastern Conference with one game in hand.
