Practice Changed To “Optional”, Lars Eller And Brian Pinho Practice In Non-Contact Jerseys: Sunday Practice Report

Many of the Washington Capitals were back to work on this snowy Sunday afternoon in the D.C. area following their 4-3 overtime win against the Bruins on Saturday night. The Capitals are 6-0-3 (15 points) and in first place of the East Division. The Bruins and Capitals will go at it again Monday night at Capital One Arena. Puck drop is set for 7:07 p.m.

The storylines heading into Sunday’s practice centered on the injury status of Lars Eller, Brian Pinho and Justin Schultz and Brian Pinho.

PRACTICE

Practice was ultimately changed to “optional” this morning. Lars Eller skated, but once again he was in a blue non-contact jersey. Brian Pinho also skated in a blue non-contact jersey. Justin Schultz did not skate. He’s been out since taking a puck to the face in Thursday’s tilt against the Islanders.

Optional practice today for the #Caps, involving mostly lower minute guys, taxi squad and a few others. Ovechkin and Orlov are both on the ice as you’d expect after their layoffs, as is Eller, who is again in a non-contact sweater.

— Mike Vogel (@VogsCaps) January 31, 2021

Capitals head coach Peter Laviolette did not meet with the media following practice, so further updates on the injury status of Eller, Pinho and Schultz will likely come no sooner than tomorrow morning after morning skate.

A decent turnout for the optional skate, which include Alex Ovechkin, Dmitry Orlov and Jakub Vrána.

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SHAVINGS

Alex Ovechkin scored his NHL record 24^th career overtime goal last night against the Boston Bruins, marking his second career overtime goal against the Bruins (April 10, 2006 at Boston).
With the goal, Ovechkin tied Mike Gartner (708) for the seventh-most goals in NHL history. Ovechkin reached the mark in 275 fewer games than Gartner (Ovechkin: 1,157 games; Gartner: 1,432 games).
With a career goals per game average of 0.61 – the highest among players with at least 700 career goals – Ovechkin has reached the 30-goal mark in each of his 15 NHL seasons, including 32 goals in 2012-13 when teams contested a 48-game schedule.
His 15 career 30-goal campaigns trail only Gartner (17) for the most in League history – Ovechkin’s 15 consecutive 30-goal seasons are tied with Gartner (1979-80–1993-94) and Jaromir Jagr (1991-92–2006-07) for the longest such run by an NHL player.

PHOTOS