Alex Ovechkin could return to the lineup for the Washington Capitals on Saturday night as they play the Toronto Maple Leafs, but Auston Matthews is likely to miss the game for Toronto.
Ovechkin, who has been out since Nov. 18 due to a fractured left fibula, practiced fully with the Capitals on Friday. Coach Spencer Carbery said, “We will see. Things are trending in the right direction for people. Another step for O. I cannot say that he’s in the lineup. We’ll have to wait and see how he responds to practice, and then we’ll know (Saturday) morning.”
Matthews, who has an upper-body injury, missed Toronto’s 5-2 win over Detroit on Friday. Coach Craig Berube mentioned, “He’s doing better, but I would say no to (Saturday), too. Again, he’s doing better, which is good, but I can’t give you much more than that, to be honest.
We’ll update you again (on Saturday).” Matthews has now missed three straight games and previously sat out nine games in November with a similar injury before returning on Nov. 30.
The teams have each won one game this season, with both victories coming on the road. Ovechkin had an assist in the Capitals’ 4-3 overtime loss to the Leafs on Nov. 13 and missed the 3-1 win in Toronto on Dec. 6. Matthews didn’t play in the first game and was scoreless in the second.
Carbery said he doesn’t expect any limitations on Ovechkin’s usage. “I think he will be full go. We’ll have to see how he responds after a game, but I don’t anticipate him being on a pitch count.
It would just depend on if he comes out of one of those games and is a little bit fatigued,” he said. “The injury itself will be 100 percent healed. It’ll be more about managing his fatigue level coming out of that.”
The Capitals have been strong without Ovechkin, going 10-5-1 in his absence. He has 15 goals and 10 assists in 18 games this season and is 27 goals away from passing Wayne Gretzky’s all-time record of 894 career goals.
Matthews, who led the NHL with 69 goals last season, has 11 goals and 12 assists in 24 games this season. Toronto is 8-4-0 without him.
Toronto’s win over Detroit ended a two-game losing streak. Max Pacioretty said, “Definitely needed it. That schedule got hectic for our group, and it definitely showed in our game. It was nice to relax and spend time with the family. It was obvious that every team needed a little bit of a rest there.”
David Kampf played his 500th career NHL game on Friday and scored his first goal of the season. Mitch Marner recorded his third career hat trick, including his second natural hat trick. John Tavares also had a natural hat trick on Dec. 15 against Buffalo. This marks the first time Toronto has had two natural hat tricks in one season since 1975-76.
