The Capitals took things easy on Saturday after the craziest hockey game of the year on Friday against the Hurricanes.
ARLINGTON, V.A. — Following the craziest hockey game of the year, a stunning 7-6 shootout win over the Carolina Hurricanes, the Washington Capitals decided to take it easy on Saturday with an optional morning skate.
It was a well-attended practice, and the team saw two key pieces take the ice as T.J. Oshie and Aliaksei Protas continued their recovery from respective upper and lower-body injuries. Both are day-to-day.
Head coach Spencer Carbery said that he's hopeful both will be available for Sunday's tilt with the Winnipeg Jets but said that he won't know for sure until evaluating both of them post-practice.
Oshie is set to be honored for his 1,000th NHL game in a pregame ceremony prior to Sunday's tilt against Winnipeg. Whether or not he returns to the lineup remains to be seen, though he took part in the full optional and returned to the ice afterward to skate with his daughter, Leni, and John Carlson and Max Pacioretty's kids.
In addition to Oshie and Protas, Tom Wilson took part in the practice and was one of the last players on the ice, staying on for extra work. He is serving a six-game suspension for high-sticking Noah Gregor back on Wednesday.
Darcy Kuemper also took part in the optional skate after being pulled in Friday's win, while Charlie Lindgren took the day off. Lindgren will start on Sunday against the Jets. Kuemper stopped 18 of 22 shots before Carbery chose to pull him after two periods.
"I felt like I needed to do something as a coach and it's not a decision that I take lightly to take Kuemps out there," Carbery said. "But with the amount of goals that were going in and even the two challenges that are successful and the puck plays behind the net, I just felt like it wasn't Darcy's night. I just felt like we had to change momentum somehow, someway going into that third period."