Here's everything to know from Wednesday's Capitals pracitce.
ARLINGTON, V.A. — After taking Tuesday to reunite with family following a five-game road trip out west, the Washington Capitals got back to work with a high-energy practice, where Evgeny Kuznetsov made sure he stood out.
Kuznetsov, who sat out Monday's game as a play-based healthy scratch for the first time since his rookie year (he was scratched for disciplinary reasons in 2021), was a full go on Wednesday and making the most of the drills and ice time for the day.
Head coach Spencer Carbery took notice, and said it was good to see with Kuznetsov set to return to the lineup Thursday, where he will get the chance to start fresh against the Dallas Stars.
"I'm hoping we see what I saw today in practice: a highly motivated player that was competing at a high level. He was moving his feet, trying to attack. So hopefully we see that tomorrow," Carbery said, adding, "No wants to sit in the stands, and I don't want to have to do that either. But... I know there's a better player there. I know what he's capable of doing."
Kuznetsov was on a line with Hendrix Lapierre and Matthew Phillips, though it's unclear if that will be the go-to combination for Thursday. Sonny Milano was the odd man out at pratice and cycling in on the bottom-6 during rushes. However, Phillips remained on long after the skate for extra work.
Meanwhile, T.J. Oshie was on the ice for the entirety of practice in a non-contact jersey after missing out on the road gtrip with an upper-body injury he suffered on Nov. 24.
He'd been skating on his own while his team was on the road and working with skills coach Kenny McCudden and teammate Max Pacioretty to recover. While he won't play on Thursday, it was a good step for No. 77, who expects to shed the non-contact sweater in the next two days and aim for a return on Saturday against the New York Rangers.
Here were the combinations at Wednesday's practice:
Alex Ovechkin-Dylan Strome-Tom Wilson
Hendrix Lapierre-Evgeny Kuznetsov-Matthew Phillips
Anthony Mantha-Connor McMichael-Aliaksei Protas
Beck Malenstyn-Nic Dowd-Nicolas Aube-Kubel
Sonny Milano-T.J. Oshie
Martin Fehervary-John Carlson
Rasmus Sandin-Trevor van Riemsdyk
Joel Edmundson-Nick Jensen
Alex Alexeyev-Lucas Johansen
Darcy Kuemper
Charlie Lindgren