Capitals goaltender Logan Thompson took the ice for practice on Saturday. (James Carey Lauder — Imagn Images) [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/7db708fa-e348-48b6-ac5a-c655a79f0c60.jpeg] Capitals goaltender Logan Thompson took the ice for practice on Saturday. (James Carey Lauder — Imagn Images) WASHINGTON — It was an intense and high-spirited practice at Capital One Arena, with captain Alex Ovechkin leading the charge as his team enters the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs. And, in a welcome sight, Logan Thompson, wearing a new setup, got back to practicing with the group as one of the two main goaltenders between the pipes, as Clay Stevenson rotated in between him and Charlie Lindgren. Thompson, who suffered an upper-body injury against the Carolina Hurricanes on April 2, appears to be on the right track for a return in Round 1. Coach Spencer Carbery will have more after the skate. While Thompson returned, it wasn’t all positive news on the injury front. Aliaksei Protas, who is still recovering from a skate cut to the foot suffered against the Chicago Blackhawks on April 4, didn’t skate and has yet to take the ice since the injury. In addition to Protas, Martin Fehervary was also absent. The Slovak blueliner didn’t play in the season finale and appeared to tweak something in Monday’s win over the New York Islanders, though he finished that game. All of Washington’s other blueliners were accounted for, including Ethan Bear [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/washington-capitals/latest-news/capitals-recall-ethan-bear-from-hershey-ahead-of-playoffs], who was called up from the AHL’s Hershey Bears on Saturday. The combinations stayed the same up front, with some tweaks to the blue line to account for Fehervary’s absence: Alex Ovechkin-Dylan Strome-Anthony Beauvillier Connor McMichael-Pierre-Luc Dubois-Tom Wilson Andrew Mangiapane-Lars Eller-Ryan Leonard Brandon Duhaime-Nic Dowd-Taylor Raddysh Ethen Frank Jakob Chychrun-John Carlson Rasmus Sandin-Matt Roy Alex Alexeyev-Trevor van Riemsdyk Dylan McIlrath-Ethan Bear Logan Thompson Charlie Lindgren Clay Stevenson Game 1 against the Montreal Canadiens [http://Thehockeynews.com/nhl/montreal-canadiens] is on Monday.
