Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin will miss a game due to an injury for the first time in over a year Friday when the team travels to Philadelphia for a game against its Metropolitan Division rival Flyers. Ovechkin sat out Wednesday's practice after sustaining an upper-body injury in the first period during the team's 3-2 loss against the Canucks in Vancouver Monday night.
NHL.com reports that Ovechkin skipped practice Wednesday and won't travel with the team to Philadelphia, and that he was out skating with injured teammate and defenseman John Erskine and strength and conditioning coach Mark Nemish Thursday morning. Friday will mark the first game that Ovechkin misses since Feb. 22, 2012 due to an injury.
Capitals head coach Adam Oates discussed the injury on Wednesday with NHL.com at the team's practice.
"I think in the first period some time," Oates told the website about when the injury occured. "He told me he was a little sore and I think as the game went along he got a little [more] sore. [Tuesday] was an off day, we traveled, so he's getting checked out [Wednesday]."
Ovechkin was able to stay in the game and even test Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo a few times.
NHL.com reports that Oates would not discuss the nature of the injury but he did rule out a concussion.
Losing Ovechkin for a lengthy amount of time could prove costly to Washington as he currently leads the team with 15 points and is second in the NHL with 10 goals while he's also added five assists.
"He's obviously our key contributor and he's got a hot stick right now, so somebody else will have to step up and fill his spot," Capitals defenseman Mike Green told CSNWashington.com on Wednesday. "I don't know where's he's at. I think he's OK. I think this is more of a rest for him. We'll see."
The Capitals currently find themselves in the middle of the pack in the newly formed Metropolitan Division with a 5-7-0 record and 10 points while they trail the division leading Pittsburgh Penguins (9-4-0, 18 points) by eight points for the division lead. The Capitals hope to feast on the bottom-dwelling Flyers (3-8-0, six points) at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia Friday.
If they hope to do so, they'll have to do it without their captain.
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