Alex Ovechkin is slowly making his way back into the fray at this year’s Washington Capitals Training Camp.
After leaving the first day of camp with a lower-body injury and missing the following few practices completely, Ovechkin has now skated at MedStar Capitals Iceplex back-to-back days in a no-contact jersey.
Just as he did on Tuesday, the Capitals captain departed the ice before Group A got its practice underway, and he is still not listed on the roster for either of their two remaining groups at camp.
Ovechkin was joined on the ice by Russian-born winger Alexander Suzdalev, who also donned a no-contact jersey after suffering an upper-body injury earlier this week. Suzdalev had been working with Group C at camp before the team’s initial roster cuts trimmed practices down to just two groups.
Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery labeled Ovechkin “day-to-day” when he first spoke about the 40-year-old winger’s injury and called Tuesday’s skate a step in the right direction.
Ovechkin was unconcerned about the severity of his injury when asked about it last week, and spent most of Tuesday doing promotional work for his new cereal, “Ovi’s Great Crunch,” at a local Giant supermarket.
Outside of Ovechkin and Suzdalev’s absence from the main groups, veteran center Nic Dowd was not listed on Wednesday’s roster. The Capitals announced on Tuesday that Dowd is out for personal reasons.
The Capitals are set to play their next preseason game on Thursday at Giant Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania, against the Philadelphia Flyers. Much of the lineup for that game will likely come from Group A’s roster.
