No Tom Wilson, Carl Hagelin Skates: News From Capitals’ Optional Skate

Posted on May 8, 2022 by Jon Sorensen


The Washington Capitals held an optional skate at noon on Sunday following their 6-1 trouncing of the Florida Panthers on Saturday. Game 4 of the series is set for Monday night at Capital One Arena before the series returns to south Florida for Game 5 on Wednesday.

Tom Wilson did not participate in the teams optional skate on Sunday. Wilson sustained a lower body injury in the first period of Game 1 and has missed Games 2 and 3. He remains officially listed as “day-to-day”.

The NHL Department of Player Safety announced on Sunday afternoon that center Evgeny Kuznetsov has been fined $5,000 for high-sticking center Noel Acciari in the Washington Capitals’ 6-1 win over the Florida Panthers in Game 3 of the best-of-seven first-round Stanley Cup Playoff series on Saturday.

Carl Hagelin, who has been out since March with an eye injury, continues to skate at MedStar.

John Carlson

John Carlson met with the media following the team’s optional skate. “If you want to win in the playoffs, you got to have everybody. Up and down our lineup we all have different roles … we all have to chip in different places. That’s what makes us a great team.”

Connor McMichael

Connor McMichael also met with the media following the team’s optional skate. “It was really cool. It was honestly more than I could have imagined. The crowd brought a lot of energy last night.”

From The Other Side

The Panthers held a normal practice at Capital One Arena on Sunday. There were no lineup changes, but Sergei Bobrovsky was given the day off.

Panthers’ head coach Andrew Brunette said after practice that Bobrovsky was given a maintenance day but that he will be good to go for Monday’s Game 4.

Caps-Cats

Washington became the eighth team since 1986 to take a 2-1 series lead over the Presidents’ Trophy-winning team in the opening round of a best-of-seven series. The 6-1 win also marked the Capitals’ largest margin of victory in a playoff game since winning 6-0 against the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 5 of the First Round on April 20, 2019.

SamsonOMG

Ilya Samsonov stopped 29 of the 30 shots he faced to earn his first career playoff win, becoming the 17thgoaltender in franchise history to earn a postseason victory and the eighth originally selected by Washington in the NHL Draft (Braden Holtby, Olie Kolzig, Semyon Varlamov, Michal Neuvirth, Jim Carey, Philipp Grubauer and Vitek Vanecek).

Samsonov recorded 28-straight saves in the victory, including all 21 he faced in the second and third periods. Through two games, Samsonov has recorded a .976 save percentage at five-on-five, the highest among goaltenders with at least two games played this postseason. Samsonov has also saved all 14 high-dangers shots he has faced at five-on-five.

The Captain

Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin scored his first goal of the playoffs after adding an assist earlier in the game to record his 36th career playoff multi-point game. Ovechkin’s power-play goal – which marked Washington’s fourth power-play goal of the series – was the 28th of his postseason career, which tied Evgeni Malkin for the most among active players and tied for seventh in NHL playoff history. The goal marked Ovechkin’s 72nd of his career, tied with Esa Tikkanen and Patrick Marleau for the 14th-most in NHL history.

From The DMV

About Jon Sorensen

Jon has been a Caps fan since day one, attending his first game at the Capital Centre in 1974. His interest in the Caps has grown over the decades and included time as a season ticket holder. He has been a journalist covering the team for 10+ years, primarily focusing on analysis, analytics and prospect development.
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2 Responses to No Tom Wilson, Carl Hagelin Skates: News From Capitals’ Optional Skate

  1. Anonymous says:
    May 9, 2022 at 12:08 pm

    Hagelin skating is good to see!

    Reply

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