Updated, 12:40 p.m.
Ovechkin was on the ice doing sprints under the watchful eye of strength and conditioning coach Mark Nemish Thursday morning prior to the start of full team practice, along with defenseman John Erskine, who was placed on LTIR. At no point did Ovechkin fire a shot or handle a puck in the workout, though, so it appears as though it was mainly an effort to keep up his conditioning level.
The star winger suffered the injury to his right shoulder in the first period of the Capitals’ 3-2 loss in Vancouver Monday night. While the Capitals have declined to share any details on the specific nature of Ovechkin’s injury, Coach Adam Oates confirmed that it occurred when Ovechkin was tripped by Alexander Edler 1 minute 19 seconds seconds into the contest and sent crashing into Roberto Luongo and the Canucks’ net.
Repeat viewing of that incident shows Ovechkin falling with the bulk of the weight on his right arm and then colliding with Luongo head and shoulder first. As he gets out from under the net, Ovechkin extends his arm to touch the ice and gives Luongo a pat before extending it once more on the goaltender’s pad. As he stands up his right arm hangs rather gingerly by his side.
At this stage it’s difficult to gauge exactly how much time Ovechkin might miss. Asked for a potential timeline on Ovechkin’s return, Oates said “maybe” Saturday against the Florida Panthers.
Here’s replay of the trip along with the penalty shot that was awarded to Ovechkin via CSN Washington.
Here’s what the lineup looks like this morning.
Erat-Backstrom-Fehr
Laich-Johansson-Brouwer
Chimera-Grabovski-Ward
Volpatti-Latta/Beagle-Wilson
Alzner-Carlson
Schmidt-Green
Orlov/Urbom-Oleksy