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John Carlson Skates With Team, Martin Fehervary Practices In Regular Full-Contact Jersey, Line Changes: Notes From Capitals Wednesday Practice At MedStar

Jon Sorensen

The Washington Capitals returned home from the west coast on Tuesday following their 4-2 loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Monday night. The Capitals next face the New Jersey Devils on Thursday at Capital One Arena. Puck drop is set for 7PM ET.

PRACTICE NOTES

John Carlson, who has been out since being hit in the head by a shot on December 23, skated with the team for the first time, in a non-contact jersey. He has another doctor’s appointment today. He will meet with the media this week.

Martin Fehervary (lower body injury) skated in a full contact jersey, indicating he is close to returning to the lineup. Nick Jensen skated in a non-contact jersey. Jensen will “most likely” be unavailable tomorrow against the Devils but Fehervary is “more of a day-to-day situation” and could suit up, per Peter Laviolette.

The Capitals forward lines and defensive pairs for the Capitals at Wednesday’s practice:

Alex Ovechkin — Evgeny Kuznetsov — Anthony Mantha
Sonny Milano  — Nicklas Backstrom — Tom Wilson
Conor Sheary — Dylan Strome — T.J. Oshie
Aliaksei Protas — Nic Dowd — Nicolas Aube-Kubel

Rasmus Sandin — Trevor van Riemsdyk
Alex Alexeyev – Martin Fehervary
Matt Irwin – Gabriel Carlsson

Extras: Vinny Iorio, John Carlson, Nick Jensen

Craig Smith did not practice. He went back to Boston to collect belongings. Will be back tomorrow.

MAKE-A-WISH

Nate Wessel, from Glenwood, lived out his dream with the Washington Capitals. The 14-year-old signed a contract with the Capitals.

Nate was at MedStar Capitals Iceplex with Make-A-Wish Mid Atlantic. He has had three open heart surgeries and is thriving!

STAT OF THE DAY

The Capitals were trounced in possession metrics in their last game. The Kings led in five-on-five shot attempts, 53-27, scoring chances 33-12, high-danger chances, 19-4, expected goals for percentage, 79.03% to 20.97% and expected goals for 3.55 to .94. – the Capitals worst possession metrics for a game this season (65 games).

As a result, the Capitals team expected goals for percentage has sunk to 50.75%, the lowest it’s been since mid-December.

[The statistics used in this post are courtesy of Natural Stat Trick, MoneyPuck and the NoVa Caps Advanced Analytics Model (NCAAM). If you’d like to learn more about the statistical terms used in this post, please check out our NHL Analytics Glossary]

DOWN ON THE FARM

Joe Snively continues his impressive play in Hershey. He made an eye-popping cross-ice feed to setup Mike Vecchione for a score over the weekend.

Bogdan Trineyev and Dynamo Moscow face Nizhny Novgorod in game 4 of their first round playoff series on Wednesday. Dynamo leads the series 2-1. Trineyev, 21, has an assist in the first three games of the series.

The Hershey Bears announced today that forward Kale Kessy has been traded to the Colorado Eagles in exchange for future considerations.

SHAVINGS

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