Silbsy's Corner: Standouts, Combos & What To Know From Day 5 Of Caps Camp, Ovechkin & Injury Updates
The Capitals got back to work at training camp after a day off and initial round of cuts.
ARLINGTON, V.A. — After an off day and first round of roster cuts, the Washington Capitals got right back to work at MedStar Capitals Iceplex for what marked the fifth day of training camp
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The team got a positive sign before practice as Alex Ovechkin took the ice for the first time since leaving on Day 1 with a lower-body injury. Ovechkin, wearing a powder blue, non-contact jersey, got some skating work in and also helped shoot on Charlie Lindgren before leaving the ice.
Ovechkin remains day-to-day and held out for mainly precautionary reasons, and the Capitals will continue to monitor him and decide when he’ll rejoin the mix.
“Still plenty of runway in training camp with a decent amount of time for him to get back,” coach Spencer Carbery said. “(He’ll) get some practices under his belt, potentially get into some preseason games.”
On the bright side, two Capitals upgraded from the baby blue sweaters, as Martin Fehervary and Justin Sourdif were both cleared for contact.
Fehervary’s reps were limited to open camp with him having spent the offseason recovering from meniscus surgery and dealing with some leftover inflammation, and he said he feels at 90 percent and expects to be ready for the start of the season. Sourdif, meanwhile, was dealing with an illness. Both are options for Thursday’s preseason game in Hershey.
With the roster trimmed down, the Capitals got to work with two groups and ran some familiar combinations, as Ryan Leonard remained with Aliaksei Protas and Pierre-Luc Dubois while Ivan Miroshnichenko stayed with Connor McMichael and Tom Wilson.
Here were the combos for each group:
Group A
Aliaksei Protas-Pierre-Luc Dubois-Ryan Leonard
Ethen Frank-Hendrix Lapierre-Sonny Milano
Brandon Duhaime-Henrik Rybinski-Justin Sourdif
Bogdan Trineyev/Matt Strome-Patrick Thomas-Terik Parascak
Martin Fehervary-John Carlson
Declan Chisholm-Dylan McIlrath
Aaron Ness-Cam Allen
Calle Rosen-Ryan Chesley
Charlie Lindgren
Clay Stevenson
Group B
Andrew Cristall-Dylan Strome-Anthony Beauvillier
Ivan Miroshnichenko-Connor McMichael-Tom Wilson
Lynden Lakovic-Ilya Protas-Graeme Clarke
Sheldon Rempal-Eriks Mateiko/Ludwig Persson-Spencer Smallman/Ryan Hofer
Jakob Chychrun-Trevor van Riemsdyk
Rasmus Sandin-Matt Roy
David Gucciardi-Vincent Iorio
Leon Muggli-Louie Belpedio
Logan Thompson
Garin Bjorklund
Mitchell Gibson
In Group A, Hendrix Lapierre and Sonny Milano continue to stand out, with both eager to show the coaching staff that they are mainstays on the NHL roster. Bogdan Trineyev also continues to show flashes of what he can do, though he needs more consistency, and Patrick Thomas also looked good given the opportunity at center.
On defense, Cam Allen continues to be a force to be reckoned with, as does Ryan Chesley.
Then, in Group B, Ivan Miroshnichenko and Lynden Lakvoic continue to stand out, and Andrew Cristall showed some good chemistry skating once again with Dylan Strome. Keep an eye on Ilya Protas, too, as the 6-foot-6 forward continues to bring a little bit of everything to the table. Another standout up front has been Ludwig Persson, a dark horse on the radar who looks bigger, faster and stronger going into this year’s camp.
On defense, the David Gucciardi-Vincent Iorio pairing packed a punch, and another blueliner with a strong showing was Leon Muggli. He was physical and aggressive in battles, and his skating has come a long way, too.
Capitals camp continues on Wednesday at 9 a.m.
Other Notes
Nic Dowd did not skate for personal reasons.
Alexander Suzdalev is dealing with an upper-body injury and was held off the ice.
Antoine Keller is still absent from camp as he deals with Visa issues.
Zac Funk skated on his own in a non-contact jersey but remains out with injury.