The Washington Capitals got a sight for sore eyes as Aliaksei Protas was a full participant in the team’s morning skate on Saturday.
Protas has missed the past two games due to the upper-body injury he suffered in a brutal headfirst collision with Nic Dowd last week.
“There’s no great time for injuries, but especially now when we’re fighting for our lives,” Protas said. “You want to be there with the boys, and you want to help.”
The 25-year-old winger hasn’t skated with his teammates since getting hurt, but was immediately back on the club’s top line ahead of their matchup with the Buffalo Sabres.
Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery told reporters after the skate that Protas is “good to go” for Saturday night’s game.
“He’s a huge part of our team, five-on-five, penalty kill, so a welcome addition,” Carbery said.
While Protas was on the ice for the optional practice, Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin and defenseman Jakob Chychrun were not.
Ivan Miroshnichenko appeared to be filling in as Ovechkin’s placeholder on the top trio with Protas and Dylan Strome. Timothy Liljegren also subbed in for Chychrun.
Projected Capitals lines for 4/4 game against Sabres
Outside of Protas being back, the same could be said for winger Ethen Frank. The speedy forward has sat out as a healthy scratch for the past two games, but looks to be receiving a jersey in favor of trade-deadline acquisition David Kampf.
Frank was previously out injured after suffering a lower-body injury against the Colorado Avalanche on March 22. He looks slated to play on a fourth line also featuring Hendrix Lapierre and Brandon Duhaime.
In net, the Capitals are going right back to number-one starter Logan Thompson, despite Thompson allowing six goals to the New Jersey Devils on Thursday night. Charlie Lindgren has not played for the Caps since March 12, which was a 2-1 victory over the Sabres.
The Sabres come into Saturday night’s game winners of six of their last 10 games and second in the Atlantic Division. They fell in their last game, 4-1, to the Ottawa Senators on Thursday.
