The NHL’s All-Star break turned out to be a much longer rest than Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin had bargained for.
Suspended by the league three games for his leaping hit on Pittsburgh defenseman Zbynek Michalek on Jan. 22, Ovechkin has finally served his sentence and is eligible to return Saturday afternoon when Washington travels to Montreal.
“I feel like I miss hockey a lot,” Ovechkin said. “Especially the last two games I was on the road, and you wake up [from a nap] at 4 [p.m.] and you don’t know what to do.”
| Caps notes |
| » The Capitals sent rookie forward Cody Eakin back to Hershey of the American Hockey League for the fourth time this season. They recalled Bears center Keith Aucoin, 33, who leads the AHL in points (11 goals, 59 assists, 70 points). |
| » Washington acquired defenseman Kevin Marshall from Philadelphia in exchange for forward Matt Ford and forward Mike Carman from Colorado for defenseman Danny Richmond. Both reported to Hershey. |
| » Center Nicklas Backstrom again did not skate before an optional practice Thursday. He has spent just five minutes on the ice since being elbowed in a game Jan. 3. |
His teammates could probably say the same. They did well to beat defending Stanley Cup champion Boston at home without Ovechkin the last game before the All-Star break on Jan. 24. But they lost an overtime game at Tampa Bay on Tuesday and lost 4-2 to Florida on Wednesday. That dropped the Caps (26-20-4, 56 points) all the way from first place in the Southeast Division to ninth place in the Eastern Conference playoff chase. They beat Montreal 3-0 at Bell Centre in the only meeting between the two teams so far this season.
Meanwhile, defenseman Mike Green believes he is ahead of schedule for a return from sports hernia surgery. Green, who underwent surgery Jan. 17, skated for the third day in a row at Kettler Iceplex on Thursday. This time he wore full equipment as he continues his rehabilitation. The initial prognosis was four to six weeks out of the lineup.
“I just have to make sure I’m doing the right things here to get better quick,” Green said. “[Four] to six weeks, I’m hoping to be back before that.”
Green, 26, last played Jan. 7 in a game at San Jose. That was his second game back after a long layoff, and he didn’t make it past the second period. Green has appeared in just those two games since Nov. 11.
“At least I have an end date where I should be better, and that’s comforting,” Green said. “But physically I’m day three into being on the ice and today with equipment on. It’s still early. But from the point of the surgery I’m two weeks in and on the right path.”
