Ovechkin Injury Update: Capitals Captain On Ice For Practice In Colorado

After missing his first game of the season on Saturday against the Vegas Golden Knights due to a lower-body injury, Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin was back on the ice for Monday's practice in Colorado.

Ovechkin took the ice for the afternoon practice at Ball Arena. He is listed as day-to-day and missed his first game of the season on Saturday due to the ailment.

It was a good sign for Washington, who greatly missed his services in the 6-2 loss to Vegas and is also without T.J. Oshie for the rest of the road trip. Oshie returned home to be with his wife for the birth of their fourth child.

Head coach Peter Laviolette gave an update on Ovechkin after the defeat to the Golden Knights.

"There's always things that are going on with players," Laviolette said, not specifying whether or not it was a new injury or a lingering one. "Alex is usually really durable, but this is something that he wasn't able to skate this morning, and it took him out of the lineup."

Through 48 games this season, Ovechkin leads the Capitals with 30 goals and 22 assists. He is at 810 career goals and sits 85 from breaking Wayne Gretzky's all-time goals record.

Ovechkin is also set to play in the upcoming 2023 NHL All-Star Weekend in South Florida and was nominated as the team's lone representative this season. He missed last year's All-Star Game due to COVID-19 and sat out of the festivities in 2019 and 2020 in order to rest up for the second half of the season. He last took part in the All-Star Weekend in 2018, the same year he and Washington won the Stanley Cup.

Washington plays the Avalanche on Tuesday at Ball Arena to close out a three-game road swing. Seeing Ovechkin skate is a good step in the right direction, though it's unclear if that means he'll play.