ARLINGTON, V.A. — After becoming the first team this season to qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Washington Capitals were rewarded with an optional practice on Friday, allowing some key players to get some rest ahead of Saturday's afternoon tilt against the Florida Panthers.
It was still a decently attended optional, as Logan Thompson, Alex Alexeyev, Ethen Frank, Connor McMichael, Aliaksei Protas, Andrew Mangiapane, Taylor Raddysh and Ethen Frank elected to get some work in with skills coach Kenny McCudden.
Frank took some time after the skate to discuss his progress and said that while he wants to play games, he's not taking one second of his NHL journey for granted and is enjoying the ride so far.
"Every day you're coming in fresh and excited to be at the rink. It's great to see everyone every day and being in the NHL, it's really hard to complain, whether you're playing or not, from my perspective," Frank said. "I think there's lots of good things that come with it and I'm still finding ways to get myself back in the lineup and work and focus on the little things."
Nicklas Backstrom also made an appearance at the rink and sat down to discuss teammate Alex Ovechkin as he moves closer to breaking Wayne Gretzky's all-time NHL goals record. After scoring No. 888 on Thursday against the Philadelphia Flyers, Ovechkin is seven away from hitting what would be the historic new mark of 895.
Backstrom said that he wishes he was out there playing and skating with Ovechkin, but that he's excited to see him pursue the record and will travel with the team as he gets closer so he can watch Ovechkin break it in person.
"It's so impressive. He's always been a great goal scorer and for him to be seven goals away from becoming the greatest of all time, I'm happy for him, it's really fun to watch," Backstrom said, also joking that Ovechkin can score a hat trick whenever he wants to, which could put a kink in travel planning.
"Never underestimate Alex," he added.