The Washington Capitals announced just prior to puck drop against the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena on Saturday (10 PM ET, NBC Sports Washington in-market, ESPN+ out-of-market) that captain Alex Ovechkin will miss his first game of the season with a lower-body injury. He is labeled as day-to-day.
Alex Ovechkin will miss his first game of the season tonight in Las Vegas. Believe he’s now missed 48 games in his career, including just 28 due to injury. The other absences were due to suspension, family reasons, Covid, etc. #Caps
— Tarik El-Bashir (@Tarik_ElBashir) January 22, 2023
The 37-year-old leads the team with 30 goals and 52 points this season.
Left-wing Anthony Mantha, who was scratched in each of the last two games, drew into the lineup in Washington’s lone change from their 4-0 win at the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday.
#Caps tonight in Vegas:
39-Mantha, 17-Strome, 96-Aube-Kubel
15-Milano, 19-Backstrom, 43-Wilson
73-Sheary, 20-Eller, 77-Oshie
90-Johansson, 92-Kuznetsov, 21-Hathaway56-Gustafsson, 57-van Riemsdyk
9-Orlov, 3-Jensen
27-Alexeyev, 42-FehervaryKuemper vs. Thompson. #CapsKnights
— Mike Vogel (@VogsCaps) January 22, 2023
Right-wings Tom Wilson and T.J. Oshie in addition to center Nicklas Backstrom all served as alternate captains for Saturday’s game.
Washington concludes their three-game Western Conference road trip against the defending Stanley Cup Champion Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday.
By Harrison Brown