Head coach Peter Laviolette told the media on Monday that Washington Capitals center Nicklas Backstrom, who was placed on long-term injured reserve prior to the start of the season, has skated but remains at the “beginning” of the recovery from a hip injury sustained last season. The 33-year-old cannot play until Saturday, November 6, when the Capitals host the Philadelphia Flyers, due to LTIR rules.

After goaltender Vitek Vanecek started the first two games of the season, Laviolette said “At some point we’re going to put [Ilya Samsonov] in. As far as the goaltending, we’re looking for great goaltending. And I think we’ve gotten that.”

Vitek Vanecek discusses his hot start to the season and more with the media after today’s practice. #ALLCAPS | @MedStarHealth pic.twitter.com/BiQxHDjkzX

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) October 18, 2021

During line rushes, center Connor McMichael replaced Hendrix Lapierre in between left-wing Conor Sheary and right-wing T.J. Oshie, which could indicate that the 20-year-old could slot into the lineup and Lapierre could come out on Tuesday when the Capitals host the Colorado Avalanche (7 PM ET, ESPN+).

Capitals lines during Monday’s practice:

Ovechkin-Kuznetsov-Wilson
Mantha-Eller-Sprong
Sheary-McMichael-Oshie
Hagelin-Dowd-Hathaway

Fehervary-Carlson
Orlov-Jensen
TvR-Schultz

*Lapierre looked like the extra, Cholowski-Irwin as the extra D pair

— Samantha Pell (@SamanthaJPell) October 18, 2021

A further indication of McMichael potentially replacing Lapierre on Tuesday is that right-wing Daniel Sprong took Lapierre’s spot on the second power play unit.

Capitals power play units:

PP1: Ovechkin, Carlson, Kuznetsov, Oshie, Mantha

PP2: Orlov, Schultz, Wilson, Eller, Sprong

*Lapierre has been on PP2 in the first two games. Sprong now in.

— Samantha Pell (@SamanthaJPell) October 18, 2021

The Avalanche reassigned center Dylan Sikura to the AHL’s Colorado Eagles and recalled right-wing Martin Kaut and left-wing Mikhail Maltsev to the NHL squad prior to leaving for Washington. Defenseman Jack Johnson, who was on COVID-19 protocol, was cleared to travel with the team but not center Nathan MacKinnon.

Tampa Bay Lightning right-wing Nikita Kucherov, who sustained a lower-body injury in the Capitals’ 2-1 overtime loss on Saturday, will be out for a while. Head coach Jon Cooper said “Definitely not a day-to-day thing” of the injury.

Former Capitals’ right-wing Ilya Kovalchuk was named the GM for the USSR’s men’s ice hockey team for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing.

CAPS TODAY: Tomorrow night will mark Alex Ovechkin’s 1,200th career game, and he’ll become the eighth player in NHL history to have played in at least 96% of their team’s games at their 1,200 career game mark. More info on Ovechkin and #Caps Clips at https://t.co/HecIC0ECg1 pic.twitter.com/rJQlVlEYz4

— CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) October 18, 2021

By Harrison Brown