Ovechkin To Be Game-Time Decision For Capitals vs. Golden Knights

The Washington Capitals will try to keep the good times and rolling as they attempt to capture their third win in four games against the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday, but it remains a question as to whether or not Alex Ovechkin will play.

The Capitals captain will be a game-time decision against the Golden Knights, head coach Peter Laviolette told reporters. He did not take part in the morning skate at T-Mobile Arena due to maintenance.

This would be the first game that Ovechkin has missed this season after having played in all 48 games up to this point, dishing 30 goals and 22 assists for 52 points. He is at 810 career goals and sits 85 from breaking Wayne Gretzky's all-time record.

Ovechkin missed the last three games of the 2021-22 season due to a shoulder injury but returned for Game 1 of the playoffs. Other than some tweaks here and there, he has managed to remain healthy and be a constant in the lineup over his 18 years in the NHL.

With Ovechkin out, Anthony Mantha was taking reps in his place on the top line with Dylan Strome and Nicolas Aube-Kubel at the team's morning skate, per The Washington Post's Samantha Pell. The other lines will remain the same as they have been over the last two games, as the team has seen relative success with those combinations. If Ovechkin doesn't play, it would mark Mantha's return from back-to-back healthy scratches, and he would also avoid what would have been his fifth healthy scratch over the last seven games.

The 37-year-old is set to take part in the upcoming NHL All-Star Weekend on Feb. 3-4 in South Florida, where he owns a condo. Ovechkin did not get to attend last year's festivities after testing positive for COVID-19. He opted to sit out of the ASG in 2019 and 2020, electing to use the break to rest his body and gear up for the second half of the season and final playoff push.