Center Nicklas Backstrom, who is on long-term injured reserve with a hip injury and cannot return until the Capitals’ game against the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday, November 6 due to LTIR rules, skated in full gear with strength and conditioning coach Mark Nemish just prior to the team’s practice on Thursday. The 33-year-old missed training camp and has yet to play this season.

Laviolette on Backstrom: “We’re gonna do what’s best for him. If he’s ready on the 10th game, then that’s great. If he’s not ready ’till 12 games, then it’ll be 12 games. If it’s 15, it’s 15. So whatever his progression takes, we’re not gonna rush that.”#Caps

— Tarik El-Bashir (@Tarik_ElBashir) October 28, 2021

Head coach Peter Laviolette said that Backstrom has skated in full gear “a few times” (including on Thursday) and the next step in his progression would be to join the team for practice in a (light blue) non-contact jersey. However, there is no timetable for that, yet.

Laviolette added that there is a possibility that Backstrom could travel with the team on their two-game Florida road trip next week even though he cannot play in either game. “We’re gonna do what’s best for him. If he’s ready on the 10th game, then that’s great. If he’s not ready ’till 12 games, then it’ll be 12 games. If it’s 15, it’s 15. So whatever his progression takes, we’re not gonna rush that,” he said.

T.J. Oshie

Right-wing T.J. Oshie will be out week-to-week with a lower-body injury sustained in the third period of Wednesday’s 3-2 overtime loss to the Detroit Red Wings. He blocked a shot from defenseman Danny DeKeyser.

Alex Ovechkin

Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin has recorded points in all seven games to start the season, leads the NHL with eight goals and has goals in three-straight games (4g). With his goal last night against the Detroit Red Wings, Ovechkin joined Maurice Richard as the only players in NHL history to score eight goals in their team’s first seven games at the age of 35 or older (Richard: 8g in 1957-58).

Daniel Sprong

Peter Laviolette on Daniel Sprong being a healthy scratch tonight against the Red Wings on Wednesday: “It was just a lineup decision. There are 13 forwards here and just based on play, we decided to make that decision.”

Nic Dowd

Dowd said his injury resulted from a rush by getting “tangled up” with Calgary Flames center Blake Coleman in overtime in Saturday’s 4-3 loss. He missed Monday’s 7-5 win over the Ottawa Senators but noted he “felt good and confident” to play on Wednesday. Dowd said he probably could’ve taken another day, but felt strong enough to draw back into the lineup. More in Dowd here.

Dennis Cholowski

On defenseman Dennis Cholowski, who was claimed off of waivers from the Seattle Kraken on October 12 and has yet to play with the Capitals, “I’d like to see him in a game because we picked him up; he’s a good young defensemen. At the same time, we gave up seven or eight even strength chances (vs. the Red Wings). Defensively, we’re doing the right things.”

Hendrix Lapierre

Regarding center Hendrix Lapierre and potentially burning a year of his entry-level contract (if he plays 10 or more games), Laviolette acknowledged that it is a factor but it’s not all they are considering. “Right now, we’re just evaluating him. He’s been a good player for us and so we’re kind of just going slow and watching him and evaluating him.”

Quote Of The Day

Laviolette told the media regarding the Capitals’ seven-game season-opening point streak (4-0-3) that “There’s been a lot of good things. If I’m going to answer it with a positive statement, we could have won every game…If I want to look at the glass as half empty, there’s things we could have done better.”

Canine Calendars

The Capitals held their annual canine calendar shoot Thursday afternoon.

Photo: @Capitals

The Capitals have earned points in seven-straight games (4-0-3) to tie the second-longest point streak to start a season in franchise history (nine games in 2020-21: 6-0-3; seven games in 2011-12: 7-0-0). Washington concludes its brief two-game homestand against the Arizona Coyotes tomorrow at Capital One Arena.

By Harrison Brown