The Washington Capitals took the ice at MedStar Capitals Iceplex for their final full practice before Wednesday and Thursday’s home-and-road back-to-back against the Philadelphia Flyers and Nashville Predators.
Because of a scheduling quirk, the Capitals will have played only twice in 10 days before facing the Flyers at Capital One Arena. The hope is that the club will still have built enough good momentum from their clutch 4-3 overtime win over the Buffalo Sabres this past Saturday, one of their best overall performances on the young season.
The team got some encouraging lineup news at the skate, with two of the club’s top players looking like they’ll be able to take on the Flyers after earlier injury concerns. The Capitals also continued to get waiver-wire pickup Jack St. Ivany more involved ahead of his potential Caps debut, and had a visit from a furry friend in training.
Here’s everything you need to know from Tuesday’s practice.
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Logan Thompson and Jakob Chychrun fully participate in practice
Capitals number-one goaltender Logan Thompson looks like he could miss just one game with the lower-body injury he suffered against the Los Angeles Kings last week. Thompson fully participated in Tuesday’s practice after getting in a good 45 minutes on Monday before a planned early departure.
Thompson missed two practices last week before returning to the ice on Saturday morning. Charlie Lindgren started and recorded the win against Buffalo, with recent-recall Mitch Gibson serving as his backup. Gibson is still with the team as they make sure Thompson is ready for his return against Philadelphia.
“Good sign,” head coach Spencer Carbery said. “I’ll talk to Serbs (head athletic trainer Jason Serbus) and see how [Thompson] came out of practice, and then we’ll make a game plan for tomorrow.”
Top-pairing defenseman Jakob Chychrun also fully participated in the skate after missing Monday’s practice for what the team called a maintenance day. Chychrun is averaging 24:40 of ice time per game this season, the most on the Capitals and 18th overall in the NHL.
“Expected to play (on Wednesday),” Carbery said of Chychrun. “Got a full practice.”
Lineup – St. Ivany officially added to third pair
Ahead of hosting the Flyers, Carbery appears to be setting up defender Jack St. Ivany for his Capitals debut as the 27-year-old defender spent a second straight practice with Cole Hutson on the team’s third pairing.
With St. Ivany included and Thompson and Chychrun potentially ready to go, the club’s projected lineup against the Flyers is becoming clearer.
Ivan Miroshnichenko, who has reportedly received permission from the Capitals to seek a trade, and Ethen Frank were the extras at forward.
Dylan McIlrath, who skated with Hutson against the Sabres, was back in his more typical role as the extra on the backend.
Meet Bravo, the goodest boy
The Capitals also hosted probably the most important individual in the building: Bravo, a service dog in training with America’s VetDogs.
Bravo, part of CACI’s Good Dogs for Great Americans initiative, is being trained before he’s assigned to a veteran in need.
“Dogs have an ability to really just brighten people’s lives, especially for veterans who have life challenges going on,” Tom Wilson said. “Having a pup by your side can make a huge difference.”
