The Washington Capitals held an optional practice at MedStar Capitals Iceplex on Tuesday afternoon, the team’s first time back on the ice since the start of the NHL’s Olympic break.
According to Monumental Sports Network’s Tarik El-Bashir, the 2 pm skate was well-attended, including the participation of two of the team’s players who missed time before the break due to injury. Connor McMichael (upper-body), donning a light blue no-contact jersey, and Charlie Lindgren (lower-body) were both on the ice for the light practice.
“Looked good, I’ll have to talk to Serbs (head athletic trainer Jason Serbus), but them being out there on the ice is a good sign,” head coach Spencer Carbery said. “Especially, for Chuckie, because he would be off to the side or wouldn’t be participating in full drills [if he wasn’t ready], so that’s a good sign. Mikey, in the light blue today, looked like he was able to participate in everything, so we’ll see how it goes for tomorrow.”
McMichael suffered his injury on January 29 against the Detroit Red Wings, missing the final 8:18 of regulation and all of overtime and the shootout. Carbery later revealed McMichael was hurt by a cross-check from Red Wings defenseman Ben Chiarot while the Capitals were on a power play.
Two days later, the Capitals announced that he’d be out “week-to-week” and placed him on injured reserve. He missed the team’s final four games before the break. In 55 games this season, the 25-year-old McMichael has recorded 31 points (8g, 23a).
Lindgren was also hurt in the Capitals’ shootout victory over the Red Wings, needing to be carried off the ice by his teammates after the win. In the waning seconds of overtime, Red Wings defender Moritz Seider unleashed a one-time blast, and as Lindgren pushed to his right to make a potential save, he collapsed in clear pain.
The 32-year-old netminder was then placed on injured reserve at the same time as McMichael, forcing the Capitals to recall Garin Bjorklund from the AHL’s Hershey Bears. With starting goalie Logan Thompson also out injured, Clay Stevenson was forced to make the start in three of the Capitals’ final four games ahead of the break.
Lindgren’s IR designation also caused the Capitals some trouble with their organizational goaltending depth, as, due to CBA restrictions, the Capitals still needed two goaltenders on their roster at all times, even through the pause in play for the Olympics. The awkward situation forced the Bears to be without either Bjorklund or Stevenson the whole break, leading to the recently signed Mitch Gibson taking the lion’s share of the workload.
According to NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti, the only Capitals players not on the ice for Tuesday’s skate, other than the team’s three Olympians, were Justin Sourdif, Jakob Chychrun, and Sonny Milano.
Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin did skate, returning from his family vacation in Dubai, and so did veteran defenseman John Carlson. Carlson left the team’s final game before the break against the Nashville Predators after the first period due to a lower-body injury.
The Capitals will return for their first full practice on Wednesday and will practice almost every day thereafter until their next game against the Philadelphia Flyers on February 25.
