The Washington Capitals got a welcome sight ahead of their final practice on Sunday morning before Game 1 against the Montreal Canadiens.
Per RMNB’s Katie Adler, Aliaksei Protas skated in a non-contact jersey for the first time in over two weeks since suffering a skate cut injury to his left foot against the Chicago Blackhawks. The 24-year-old forward missed the final six games of the regular season, and head coach Spencer Carbery has had little news on recovery progress since Protas came out of the lineup.
NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti also captured video of Protas slowly skating circles on the ice at MedStar Capitals Iceplex.
“I’m just going to leave it as we’ve got a bunch of guys working through some things, progressing, potentially playing on Monday, potentially not,” Carbery said Saturday. “Once we get going in the series, I can give you more updates as guys are obviously warming up and in the lineup or not.”
While Protas taking the first steps toward a return to the lineup is big news, the non-contact jersey insinuates that he won’t be ready to play in Game 1 on Monday. The Capitals held an optional, full practice on Sunday, but Protas did not stick around to participate in any of the drills.
Protas had a breakout 2024-25 regular season, recording 66 points (30g, 36a) in 76 games for the Eastern Conference’s top-seeded Capitals. He played in all three games against the Canadiens during the year, tallying four points (1g, 3a).
The Capitals will have one more skate on Monday morning before taking the ice to play the Canadiens at Capital One Arena later that night. Puck drop for Game 1 is set for 7 pm.
