The Washington Capitals might be without Alex Ovechkin tomorrow night against the New York Islanders. He was unavailable on Saturday night as the Capitals captain is day to day with a lower body injury that he suffered on Thursday night. Despite this setback, Ovechkin might be okay but regardless the Caps should still play it safe.
Head coach Peter Laviolette appeared on 106.7 The Fan’s Sports Junkies this morning and said fans shouldn’t be worried. He said via Samantha Pell of The Washington Post:
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"“I don’t think it’s anything long term. I’m not sure if he’ll be there tomorrow, but I don’t think anyone needs to start getting worried about like the playoffs or anything like that”"
Ovechkin wasn’t on the ice for practice but did skate around when they did a team photo. He even skated to reporters joking to them “he’s back on the ice”. Justin Schultz, who also has missed time to a lower body injury was on the ice in a light blue non contact jersey.
Ovechkin didn’t practice and after the skate, Laviolette said he is still day to day and his status for tomorrow’s game against the Islanders remains unclear.
When the Ovechkin injury happened, I wrote a passionate article about how missing time would hurt his stats. After a few deep breaths and looking back on it, I think the Caps should take their time with Ovechkin.
A healthy Ovechkin for the playoffs is more important than chasing stats. He’ll still break Wayne Gretzky’s record but if I had to pick between that and another Stanley Cup I’d take the Cup.
This is the first time in a while Ovechkin has been hurt but he’ll definitely need the rest. The playoffs won’t get any easier depending on what matchup they draw in the first round. Having the captain available for the playoffs should be the top priority and the team proved on Saturday they can still win when the great eight isn’t in the lineup. That’s not to say they’re better without him but shows even more how they shouldn’t rush him back on the ice.
There are eight games left in the regular season. With two wins in Long Island, the Caps are in a good position but are still a point behind the Pittsburgh Penguins. Washington has a 31-13-4 record with 66 points while the Penguins have 67. The Caps are three points ahead of the Islanders and six points ahead of the Boston Bruins.