The Washington Capitals held their gameday morning skate Tuesday morning at MedStar Capitals Iceplex. They host the New York Islanders tonight at Capital One Arena.
Team captain Alex Ovechkin did not participate in this morning’s workout. Ovechkin suffered an upper body injury in the third period of Sunday night’s game against the Maple Leafs and was listed “day-to-day” by the Capitals on Monday.
It should be noted that Ovechkin has not been officially ruled out for tonight’s game. He just didn’t participate in the team’s morning skate.
Capitals say Alex Ovechkin will not participate in the morning skate today. He remains day to day with an upper body injury. Expect update on his status for tonight from coach Peter Laviolette after skate
— Tom Gulitti (@TomGulittiNHL) April 26, 2022
We should find out more when Laviolette meets with the media after morning skate.
More to come.
I cannot imagine the benefit of playing him in these last games with Playoffs around the corner 😬 I don’t care how strong he is, if something untoward is lurking in his body at this point playing hockey sure ain’t gonna make it heal faster 🤦♀️🤷♀️
It’s a hard decision to make! I’d hate to play him and risk injury vs Islanders since they aren’t that strong of a team, but we need all 6 points to end the season! Our seeding in the playoffs is riding on it! We don’t want to play FLA in the first round 🙁 Does OVI give us the best chance to win the last 3 games and potentially decrease our chances of having to play FLA?
Agree, tough spot. Would love to see him get some rest, but the game is HUGE.
Yup, seeding is a big deal…don’t want to play FL in the worst way. But doesn’t make any difference if we end up not having him for whoever we play in the end…gotta pick the lesser of 2 evils 🤷♀️
Also a good point, tough spot.
I wonder if the goal record plays into it. I’d rest him, too. But the record may be taking precedence at this point. Otherwise I’d rest him for all of April.
You guys need to be careful what you wish for with which team you’d rather have. Playing Shesterkin in NY with all the Tom Wilson hate/drama? I’d rather they be massive underdogs in ‘who gives a crap’ Florida again Bobrovsky, who they have played well against historically…
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I get what you’re saying, Marky. But statistically the Rangers have a few holes. He’s, Shesty has been solid, but never played in postseason.
It would make for a very exciting matchup that’s for sure. I just think with Caps expectations lower that you might as well play the big dog with no expectations and see what happens. I don’t think too many of us expect to get out of the 1st round anyway…
Yes, but I think we match up better against NYR. FLA would just overwhelm us! We have the best road team in the league, but I’d rather take my chances in the Garden. Def rather play a netminder with ZERO playoff experience.
Sammy has 3 games and VV has 1 game experience. That’s close to a wash…
Caps have much better 5v5 numbers than Rangers. They’ve made a living this season on the power play and goaltending.
Even if the area is just weakened and not injured severely, not resting it will not help. Rehab consists of very controlled movements — impossible in a game. And would the Islanders go out of their way to avoid injuring him more?
I do not feel it is worth the risk. I do not feel the potential seeding benefit is great enough and the downside of Ovi not being able to perform in the playoffs too great.
Going after the record should not play a role in the decision.
Totally agree. First, I don’t really care who we play in first round. You gotta beat a good team in every round so there is no such thing as easy. We have finally gotten healthy and staying healthy will be key to the journey, but there will be injuries and will employ “next man up” so also good to get McMike a game. notice they just moved him to first line in order to keep the other three lines in tact. Lavi has his playoff lineup. Let OV recuperate a bit.