Washington Capitals News: Alex Ovechkin skates in light blue non contact sweater and more

Alex Ovechkin continued to practice on Thursday in a non contact jersey at MedStar Capitals Iceplex in Arlington before the Washington Capitals took the ice to skate. He has yet to join the group for a full skate as he's still sidelined for at least four to six weeks with a lower body injury but signs are looking good especially after what happened 17 days ago.

Caps are set to play their sixth back to back set of the season this weekend when they visit the Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday at Scotiabank Arena and the Canadiens on Saturday at Bell Centre. Washington has won four sets of back to back games and are 4-1-0 in the first game and 4-1-0 in the second game.

Per the Caps, Washington's four wins on zero days rest are tied for the most in the NHL while their three road wins on zero days rest lead the League. The Capitals have outscored the opposition 23-13 in the first half of back to backs this season, most recently edging the New York Islanders 5-4 in overtime on Nov. 29 and then traveling to New Jersey to secure a 6-5 win the next night over the Devils.

The Caps will play nine of their 13 total back to backs by the end of the calendar year. Another fun Caps fact comes from Bailey Johnson of The Washington Post, saying that defenseman Rasmus Sandin leads the NHL in goals above replacement among defensemen.

For Ovechkin it was the second day in a row that he skated in equipment after taking a twirl on Tuesday morning. The 39 year old broke his left fibula after a collision from Utah Hockey Club forward Jack McBain but the fibula is a non weight bearing bone so he's been able to walk on it, do light exercise on it, support his teammates and even his fellow neighbors like you see him dapping up Kyle Kuzma of the Washington Wizards above.

Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery would tell the media after practice per Sammi Silber of The Hockey News that the light blue jersey work is just another step and the next one will be playing with the puck, joining the group,and getting the reps in before he goes full contact.

He'll be cleared to play by then but for now the Capitals have to focus on their back to back road trip up to Canada.