Alex Ovechkin won’t play tonight and is day to day with lower body injury
Alex Ovechkin did not take part in the Washington Capitals morning skate and Coach Peter Laviolette said he would be a game time decision. Just moments before the Caps and Vegas Golden Knights took the ice for warmups, Caps PR announced that Ovechkin will not play and is day to day with a lower body injury.
This is the first time all season Alex Ovechkin has missed time due to an injury. Last season he landed in COVID protocol and injured himself the final week of the regular season. He returned for the playoffs.
The season before that he did the same minus the COVID part. Ovechkin missed morning skate due to a “maintenance day”.
Here were the lines at warmups, via Samantha Pell of The Washington Post:
Mantha-Strome-NAK
Milano-Backstrom-Wilson
Sheary-Eller-Oshie
Johansson-Kuznetsov-Hathaway
Gustafsson-TvR
Orlov-Jensen
Alexeyev-Fehervary
Kuemper
The Caps being without Ovechkin is another big blow to the Caps who have dealt with injuries all season. Tonight they face a hungry Golden Knights team that has lost three in a row.
With Ovechkin out of the lineup, Anthony Mantha heads to the top line with Dylan Strome and Nicolas Aube Kubel. That top six looks good as you’ve got Sonny Milano, Nicklas Backstrom, and Tom Wilson on the second line.
Not sure if Mantha will help the first line or slow it down but at this point the Caps had no choice but to insert him into the lineup. And the first line is the only vacant spot in Ovechkin’s absence.
light. Hot. Sonny Milano will be a major strength against Golden Knights
The Caps and Golden Knights are about to get underway and you can catch the game on NBC Sports Washington. It will be an interesting game. The Golden Knights are good and the Caps are starting to heat up again.