Alex Ovechkin hit a milestone in his return from injury. Friday, the Capitals captain joined his teammates out on the ice for the Capitals’ optional practice.
It’s the first time Ovi’s practiced with the team since suffering a lower-body injury on April 22.
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Alex Ovechkin is back on the ice for today’s optional practice. He’s missed the last three games with a lower body injury. #Caps pic.twitter.com/w0tUdtfSFc
— Tarik El-Bashir (@Tarik_ElBashir) April 30, 2021
According to NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti, Ovi participated in 15 minutes of drills before leaving the ice for the day.
Ovechkin has headed off to the locker room. He participated in about 15 minutes of drills.
— Tom Gulitti (@TomGulittiNHL) April 30, 2021
Ovechkin’s return coincides with the Capitals’ first loss since he got injured, a 5-4 (OT) letdown to the Penguins, and exactly a week since the team announced he was out with a lower-body injury. Ovi hurt himself late in the third period of Thursday’s Islanders game, appearing to pull up lame while striding with the puck. He missed the end of the third period and all of overtime. The Capitals have gone 2-0-1 with Ovi out of the lineup thus far.
After Washington’s OT loss to Pittsburgh last night, the Capitals and Penguins are tied with 69 points apiece for first place in the East Division. The two teams rematch each other on Saturday.
Thursday’s game against Pittsburgh marked Ovechkin’s first career game missed against the Penguins.
.@JoeBpXp says that this is the first Capitals-Penguins game Alex Ovechkin has ever missed in his career.
— Ian Oland (@ianoland) April 29, 2021
Meanwhile, John Carlson practiced and left the ice after 15 minutes as well. Carlson, like Ovechkin, missed Thursday’s Penguins game with a lower-body injury.
After the skate, Laviolette said both players remain day-to-day and their status for Saturday’s game is unclear.
Headline photo: Elizabeth Kong/RMNB
