Alex Ovechkin Takes Maintenance Day, Nick Jensen Misses Practice, Darcy Kuemper Leaves Practice Early: Notes From Capitals Saturday Practice
The Washington Capitals returned to MedStar Capitals Iceplex for practice on Saturday following their 5-2 loss to the St. Louis Blues on Friday night. They depart for Minnesota Saturday afternoon in advance of their tilt with the Wild Sunday afternoon in Minneapolis.
PRACTICE
Alex Ovechkin didn’t practice with the team today. Capitals said it was a maintenance day.
Nick Jensen (upper body) also didn’t practice on Saturday after not playing on Friday night against the Blues.
Darcy Kuemper left practice early, possibly dealing with an injury. The Capitals later reported it was an upper body injury for Kuemper.
Darcy Kuemper is leaving Capitals practice early. He looked like something was bothering him, spoke with trainers, went back out to stretch but headed to the locker room after Peter Laviolette went and talked to him.
— Matt Weyrich (@ByMattWeyrich) March 18, 2023
John Carlson practiced in a non-contact jersey once again on Saturday.
STAT OF THE DAY
Today’s stat of the day revisits the performance of each and every Capitals line deployed in the 2022-23 season, and includes total time on ice and the expected goals for percentage (xGF%) for each line. Lines with players traded at the trade deadline have been removed. [Click to enlarge].
[The statistics used in this post are courtesy of Natural Stat Trick, MoneyPuck and the NoVa Caps Advanced Analytics Model (NCAAM). If you’d like to learn more about the statistical terms used in this post, please check out our NHL Analytics Glossary]
DOWN ON THE FARM
Alexander Suzdalev scored his 37th goal of the season on Friday night. The tally came on the power play in the third period against Moose Jaw. Suzdalev also had two assists in the game.
Alexander Suzdalev with his 37th goal of the season. Comes on the power play. #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/7hT9E3kCFB
— Capitals Prospects (@jon_m_sorensen) March 18, 2023
Ethen Frank scored his team-leading 26th goal of the season Friday night at Lehigh Valley.
Ethen Frank with his 26th goal of the season. Bears lead 1-0 after 20. #HBH #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/gbr9Eg9fw7
— Capitals Prospects (@jon_m_sorensen) March 17, 2023
Tonight the Hershey Bears will induct their 2021 and 2022 classes into the Hershey Bears Hockey Club Hall of Fame. The Class of 2021 is comprised of Barry Ashbee (player), Frederic Cassivi (player), John Henderson (player), Myron Stankiewicz (player), and John Travers (general); the Class of 2022 consists of Keith Aucoin (player), Brian Dobbin (player), Don Foreman (official), and Gregg Mace (general).
SHAVINGS:
