Alex Ovechkin is continuing to show, what appears to be, promising progress with his fractured left fibula.
Thursday morning, Ovechkin put in some individual skating work before the Washington Capitals held practice at MedStar Capitals Iceplex. Ovechkin, donning a light-blue no-contact jersey, casually skated laps around the rink in full gear for the second time since his injury.
The 39-year-old winger took slow strides up and down the ice and made no sharp turns or sudden stops. He pushed off with his left leg with no apparent difficulty.
Ovechkin is just over two weeks removed from fracturing his fibula against Utah HC on November 18. His first skate post-injury came on Monday in just a tracksuit, but he has since graduated to skating in full gear and a no-contact jersey on consecutive days.
Despite the clear positive step, head coach Spencer Carbery is still tempering expectations.
“I know it’s great to see, [but] I really, and this is with anybody – I’m just like it’s so far removed,” Carbery said. “I’m being honest – I don’t even entertain or like go down that road of [getting] my hopes up or start to get there. I think as he gets into moving around with other players, I think that’s when we start to plan, and I start to think about, okay, where are we at line combination-wise and that stuff.
“But it’s great to see him progressing and taking each step. I will not devalue that because, obviously, it just means that he continues to get better, and he’s not taking any steps back, so that’s certainly a positive. And he’ll just continue, hopefully, just keep staying on track with getting back into the lineup.”
Once the severity of Ovechkin’s injury was first revealed, the Capitals gave him a four-to-six-week injury timeline. Despite his seemingly fast return to the ice, that timeline has not moved.
“Yeah, he skated this morning,” Carbery said Wednesday. “Just part of the program. No real update, just part of his progression.”
The Capitals are 4-2-1 in the seven games they have played without Ovechkin. Washington is preparing for the eighth and ninth games Ovechkin will miss as they are set for a road back-to-back against the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens this weekend.
