The Washington Capitals practiced at MedStar Capitals Iceplex on Thursday in preparation for their game against the Detroit Red Wings tomorrow afternoon at Capital One Arena. The game can be seen on NBC Sports Washington starting at 4 PM Eastern. Here are all of the news from Thursday’s Capitals practice: 

Forwards T.J. Oshie and Evgeny Kuznetsov each missed practice again, meaning they will likely miss the next three games since the team plays a back-to-back against the Red Wings and New York Rangers this weekend and are playing the New York Islanders on Monday after a day off on Sunday. With the team 3-0-0 in the games that Oshie and Kuznetsov have missed, there’s no rush to get the two forwards back in the lineup. They are both still labeled as day-to-day with upper-body injuries (possible concussions).

Capitals are practicing this morning with 4 p.m. start tomorrow vs. Detroit and no morning skate.

No Oshie and Kuznetsov (both upper body) again at practice.

— Tom Gulitti (@TomGulittiNHL) November 22, 2018

The team will not hold a morning skate for either of the games against the Red Wings and Rangers due to afternoon starts.

Goaltender Braden Holtby was in the starter’s goal for practice, meaning he could play against the Red Wings tomorrow afternoon and backup Pheonix Copley gets the Rangers on Saturday.

Capitals Lines vs. Red Wings

Capitals Thanksgiving lines:

Ovechkin-Backstrom-Wilson
Vrana-Eller-Connolly
Burakovsky-Boyd-DSP
Jaskin-Dowd-Stephenson

Orlov-Niskanen
Kempny-Carlson
Dj Oos-Bowey

Siegenthaler

Holtby
Copley

— Tom Gulitti (@TomGulittiNHL) November 22, 2018

Shavings

-The team’s current three-game winning streak is their longest of 2018-19 so far

-Center Nicklas Backstrom enters Friday’s game vs. the Red Wings three points shy of passing Peter Bondra (825) for second place on the Capitals’ all-time points list and is riding a three-point streak (two goals, four points)

-Captain Alex Ovechkin enters Friday’s game vs. the Red Wings one power-play goal shy of passing Mario Lemieux (236) for seventh place on the NHL power-play goals list

-Defenseman John Carlson recorded his 17th assist of the season against Chicago on Wednesday, which is tied for fourth among NHL defensemen; it also marked Carlson’s 273rd career NHL/Capitals assist, passing Sergei Gonchar (272) for fourth on the Capitals’ franchise assist list among defensemen; Carlson’s 22 points (five goals) rank fourth in the NHL among defensemen; Carlson has been on the ice for 25 goals at five-on-five this season, which leads the Capitals and is tied for fourth in the NHL

-Holtby has recorded a 1.72 goals against average and a .950 save percentage in his last five games; Since Nov. 7, the first game in that five game stretch, Holtby’s 1.72 goals against average ranks seventh and his .950 save percentage ranks third among goaltenders with at least four games played during that span

-Since the 2014-15 season, Holtby’s 99 home wins are tied for the most in the NHL (Nashville Predators’ Pekka Rinne: 99 wins), while his 2.11 goals against average ranks first among goaltenders with at least 50 home games played during that span and his .925 save percentage ranks third; he is 9-2-2 and has a career 2.19 goals against average and a .920 save percentage in his career against the Red Wings

-Forward Tom Wilson is averaging 20:41 minutes per game this season, 4:42 more per game than his previous single season high set last year; additionally, Wilson has six points (two goals) in five games, his best start to the season in his career

Capitals Today 

CAPS TODAY: John Carlson recorded his 273rd career assist as a Capital, passing Sergei Gonchar for the fourth most among Capitals defensemen in franchise history. More info on https://t.co/HecIC0ECg1 pic.twitter.com/J5U9Ib7s5T

— CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) November 22, 2018

Game Notes

GAME NOTES: The Capitals take on the Detroit Red Wings in a matinee on Friday. https://t.co/z22zL1avJk pic.twitter.com/SljkQHxPZF

— CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) November 22, 2018

By Harrison Brown