The Capitals got some positive injury updates after practice on Wednesday.
After a vital win over the Anaheim Ducks, the Washington Capitals got back to work and got some encouraging news on captain Alex Ovechkin at the same time.
Ovechkin, who is dealing with a lower-body injury, took part in Wednesday's practice, going through the motions and staying on the ice for the entire skate.
Head coach Spencer Carbery had some encouraging updates on the captain post-practice.
"Positively steps today with him taking part in a full practice, which was one of the hurdles that we needed him to be able to participate in a full practice," Carbery told reporters. "And then we'll gauge for tomorrow whether he'll be able to play tomorrow night."
Ovechkin has missed the last three games and has been a game-time decision for the last five contests. The 38-year-old has been dealing with the ailment since Jan. 6, but it is not related to the collision he had with Jordan Staal back on Jan. 5, per Carbery.
"I don't know if there's a specific incident, but just not related to that," Carbery said.
All the while, T.J. Oshie, Nic Dowd, John Carlson, Joel Edmundson, Max Pacioretty and Evgeny Kuznetsov took maintenance days after Tuesday's win over the Ducks, per NHL.com's Tom Gulitti.
Washington also got some updates on Sonny Milano and Rasmus Sandin, who remained in non-contact jerseys. The two continue to deal with upper-body injuries, but the hope is that both will be upgrading to contact sooner rather than later. That is the next step in their recovery.
"Sandin positive steps today. Milano, I think so as well,' Carbery added. "Kinda been status quo for a few days, so next step would be getting into full contact jerseys."
Washington closes out its home stand on Thursday against the St. Louis Blues before embarking on a four-game road trip, and the hope is that Ovechkin will be back in the mix by then.