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Alex Ovechkin Takes Maintenance Day, Sonny Milano Out With Non-Covid Illness : Notes From Monday’s Capitals Practice

By Jon Sorensen·


The Washington Capitals had the day off on Sunday in New York City following their 5-1 win over the Islanders on Saturday night. They next do battle with the Rangers Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden. Puck drop is set for 7PM.

Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin took a break from skating this morning and had a “maintenance day. Sonny Milano also missed practice with a non-Covid illness.

John Carlson remained in the blue-non contact sweater, but did work with the first power play unit this morning.

For reference, the Capitals forward lines and defensive pairs in their last game against the Islanders:

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

Rasmus Sandin — Trevor Van Riemsdyk
Martin Fehervary — Nick Jensen
Matt Irwin — Alexander Alexeyev

Kuemper
Charlie Lindgren

Extras: Aliaksei Protas

DYNAMIC DUO

The defensive pair of Rasmus Sandin (3a) and Trevor van Riemsdyk (2a) combined for five assists in the victory. Sandin, who has recorded eight points (1g, 7a) in his first four games with Washington, is the first defenseman in NHL history to record at least eight points in their first four games with their new club since Sergei Zubov (1g-8a–9p) with Pittsburgh in 1995-96.

Washington defensemen have accounted for 27.5 percent of Washington’s points this season, the fourth-highest percentage in the NHL. [MORE HERE]

STAT OF THE DAY

Today’s stat of the day provides an un update to the Capitals game scores for all 67 games played to date. [Click to enlarge]

The Capitals goal count has seen significant improvement since the Anaheim Ducks game on February 23. However, during that same stretch, the Capitals expected goals for percentage (xGF%) has not been above 50% in all seven of the games.

DOWN ON THE FARM

Defenseman Dru Krebs (1LD) was a +3 with an assist against Connor Bedard, Alexander Suzdalev and the Regina Pats on Saturday. Medicine Hat blanked the high-flying Pats, 7-0. Needless to say, shutting down the Regina Pats offense is a job well done for any defense.

Bogdan Trineyev and Moscow Dynamo were eliminated from the KHL postseason on Sunday. You may recall that Trineyev made his first trip to Hershey following the conclusion of last years KHL season, however, nothing has been officially announced with regards to plans for him for the remainder of this year.

Henrik Rybinski scored his fourth goal of the season for the Bears on Sunday. The goal came early in the third period and cut the Providence Bruins lead to a single goal.

Per Bears Radio, Vinny Iorio took a hard hit along the boards early in the second period in Sunday afternoon’s game against the Providence Bruins. He subsequently missed stretches of play in the middle frame, and did not return for the third period. No official update was provided by the team. We should know more on Wednesday when the Bears next face the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.

SHAVINGS

  • Ryan Hofer is Popular With WHL Teammates After Receiving $80,000 Signing Bonus From Capitals [NoVa Caps]
  • Previewing The 2023 College Free Agent Market: Forwards [Pro Hockey Rumors]
  • Interim GM Daniel Briere says Flyers won’t be a ‘quick fix’ [ESPN]
  • And finally, Jakub Vrana wasted little time in notching his first goal with the St. Louis Blues on Sunday night.