The Washington Capitals held a morning skate at Madison Square Garden prior to their game tonight against the New York Rangers. Forward T.J. Oshie and defenseman Justin Schultz each had upper body injuries but were full participants all week in practice. At today’s morning skate, they were in the line rushes appearing good to go for tonight’s game.
Vitek Vanecek looked to be the third goalie. Oshie was on the third line with Lars Eller and Connor McMichael. Schultz was on the third pair with Trevor van Riemsdyk. Oshie was on the first power play unit while Schultz worked with the second unit.
Here were the lines via Samantha Pell of The Washington Post:
Ovechkin-Kuznetsov-Sheary
Snively-Backstrom-Wilson
McMichael-Eller-Oshie
Hagelin-Dowd-Hathaway
Fehervary-Carlson
Orlov-Jensen
TvR-Schultz
Capitals head coach Peter Laviolette said the team is “hoping” Oshie is good to go for tonight’s game against the Rangers. He’s been out since Jan. 15 with an upper body injury. Last time the Caps played at MSG, Oshie recorded a hat trick a day after his father passed away.
The Caps have struggled since the calendar flipped to 2022. They hope Oshie coming back can be a spark plug the offense needs. One thing that’s been a constant is the Caps ability to win on the road.
Over the last two seasons, the Caps have compiled a .717 points percentage on the road. That ranks first in the NHL as the Caps are a combined 35-12-6 away from Capital One Arena.
Alex Ovechkin leads the Capitals with 26 points in 24 road games this season with 15 goals and 11 assists. His 385 career goals on the road are the second most in NHL history, trailing only Wayne Gretzky’s 402.
The Caps are fourth in the Metropolitan Division trailing the third place Rangers by four points. This game is important as every point down the stretch matters even more. Puck drop is at 7 p.m. on ESPN.