The Capitals continue to ramp things up before returning to game action on Wednesday.
ARLINGTON, V.A. — As most of the Washington Capitals tuned into the gold medal game between Canada and the United States, John Carlson was on the ice well before practice was scheduled to start.
The 35-year-old, who missed the last two days due to maintenance and a nagging lower-body injury, skated on his own in a non-contact jersey under the watchful eye of the training staff.
Carlson is listed as day-to-day for now, per Spencer Carbery, and did not stay on for practice, which started almost immediately after Jack Hughes scored the golden goal for Team USA.
While the energy level while watching the game was high, with quite a bit of shouting and chirps, players were admittedly "bummed" as they took the ice for the skate, feeling for teammates Tom Wilson and Logan Thompson after watching them fall short of the ultimate goal and take home silver following a 2-1 overtime loss.
"You're there, and you're that close and you're watching this game and it goes to overtime... they feel for their brothers that were right there, that close to a gold medal," Carbery said. "It actually had a little bit of a downer on the practice."
Still, Washington stayed on task, focused on getting back up to full speed before returning from what's been a lengthy break.
All the while, the team is looking forward to getting its Olympians back, though things are still up in the air.
Martin Fehervary is expected to fly back on Sunday after he and Slovakia finished fourth in the tournament. Wilson and Thompson could fly back Monday, though things are up in the air due to a pending winter storm and other travel logistics. That said, their statuses for the team's first game back from break remain up in the air.
The Capitals get back into game action on Wednesday when they host the Philadelphia Flyers.