The Washington Capitals held a practice at MedStar Capitals Iceplex following their 5-3 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs the night before. There was a lot of news so let’s dive in.
For starters Vitek Vanecek, Nicklas Backstrom, and Evgeny Kuznetsov didn’t practice as all three took maintenance days. Joe Snively didn’t practice as he’s dealt with a lingering upper body injury.
During practice Carl Hagelin left the ice with a towel pressed to his face. During the last battle drill of practice, he was struck in the face by a stick per Capitals Coach Peter Laviolette. He was still being evaluated at the time.
The biggest blow here is Snively. The kid from Herndon, VA had lived out his NHL dream. He has four goals and three assists for seven points in 12 games. Hagelin has three goals and 11 assists for 14 points.
When Hagelin’s injury happened, there was silence among his teammates. Just last week the team practiced fully healthy with the exception of Anthony Mantha although he’s been cleared for contact as of late.
Although Hagelin does get criticized, he’s played better lately. In February he was tied for the team lead in points with Kuznetsov with seven. He also has been a big part of the fourth line, the one line that has had the most success on the Caps the last two seasons. Hagelin alone has had a 50.7 percent Expected Goals For percentage since the New Year per Natural Stat Trick.
Snively played in just 8:23 minutes last night so something was definitely up since he averaged over 12 minutes of ice time in February. The injury might’ve actually happened in Saturday’s 2-1 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers after he took a hit from defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen.
The Caps have two more home games before a road trip. Having lost six straight on home ice, Capital One Arena doesn’t have the advantage it used to. They will look to turn around this misfortune on Thursday night against the Carolina Hurricanes. In the meantime, the Capitals will practice on Wednesday at 11 a.m.