Center Lars Eller appeared to be a full participant at the Washington Capitals‘ morning skate prior to Game 4 of their first-round Stanley Cup Playoff series against the Boston Bruins on Friday (6:30 PM ET, NBC Sports Washington locally, NBCSN nationally), but his status is still uncertain after missing Game 3 with a lower-body injury sustained midway through the second period of Game 2.

Laviolette: re: Eller’s status for tonight: “We’re working through that in the room. I’m not sure at this point. We just got off the ice from the pregame skate, and we’ll work through that.” #ALLCAPS

— NoVa Caps (@NoVa_Caps) May 21, 2021

Head coach Peter Laviolette told the media on Thursday that he was encouraged by the progress Eller had made but was unsure of his status for Game 4.

Capitals power play units:

PP1: Carlson, Ovechkin, Backstrom, Kuznetsov, Sprong

PP2: Orlov, Schultz, Eller, Mantha, Wilson

*fwiw I think Sprong could be a filler for Oshie (who was absent from AM skate)

— Samantha Pell (@SamanthaJPell) May 21, 2021

Forward Daniel Carr, who replaced Daniel Sprong in Game 3, skated with the extras along with Sprong after the skate, indicating that Eller will likely return to the lineup for Game 4.

Capitals players taking part in extra work after AM skate: Daniel Sprong, Daniel Carr, Martin Fehervary, Connor McMichael, TvR, Pheonix Copley

— Samantha Pell (@SamanthaJPell) May 21, 2021

Forward T.J. Oshie, who did not participate in Wednesday’s morning skate prior to Game 3 despite playing and missed the last game of the regular season due to a lower-body injury suffered against the Philadelphia Flyers on May 8, did not skate on Friday morning.

Laviolette: re status of T.J. Oshie: “He wasn’t out there today, but he wasn’t out there last (pre) game either.”

Oshie missed morning skate on Wednesday, but played in Game 3. #ALLCAPS

— NoVa Caps (@NoVa_Caps) May 21, 2021

Goaltender Ilya Samsonov was the first goalie off, signaling that he will likely start Game 4.

As for how things ended Wednesday, Laviolette said the #Caps have turned the page. “There’s confidence that (the turnover) is in the rearview mirror with regard to (Samsonov) and with regard to our team, and we’re looking to even the series tonight.”

— Tarik El-Bashir (@Tarik_ElBashir) May 21, 2021

Craig Anderson is available for Game 4 after sitting Game 3 due to body maintenance, according to Laviolette.

Capitals’ goalie check: Craig Anderson, Ilya Samsonov, Pheonix Copley all out here for AM skate.

— Samantha Pell (@SamanthaJPell) May 21, 2021

Bruins forward David Pastrnak on the ice for their morning skate, meaning that there does not seem to be any residual issues from the crash into the end boards the other night.

Bruins Lineup for Game 4:

Marchand-Bergeron-Pastrnak
Hall-Krejci-Smith
Ritchie-Coyle-DeBrusk
Kuraly-Lazar-Wagner

Grzelcyk-McAvoy
Reilly-Carlo
Clifton-Miller

Rask

— Conor Ryan (@ConorRyan_93) May 21, 2021

The Bruins lead the best-of-seven series, 2-1.

CAPS TODAY: Ilya Samsonov recorded 40 saves in his postseason debut on Wednesday, the most saves by a goaltender in their playoff debut in franchise history. More info on Samsonov and Caps Clips at https://t.co/HecIC0ECg1 pic.twitter.com/igaQW7fAtT

— CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) May 21, 2021

By Harrison Brown