Capitals Notebook: Hard Practice, Oshie & Orlov Update, McMichael Sent Down

ARLINGTON, V.A. — After a rough 4-0 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday, the Washington Capitals got right back to work on Sunday, taking the ice for practice as they get a few days away from game action. It was by no means an easy practice.

Washington worked hard, taking part in 5-on-5 work, battle drills and mini scrimmage play. For the club, it was a good thing to get right back out there after a defeat.

“You don’t usually have a lot of juice after game, so you know it was very important to execute everything in the practice,” Evgeny Kuznetsov said. “I think we’ve done a pretty good job today so you know, we can learn from this day and focus on tomorrow and work not only hard this weekend but also smart this weekend.”

The team also got updates on a number of players.

T.J. Oshie and Dmitry Orlov were a full go at Sunday’s practice. Oshie has been out with a lower-body injury and had been in a non-contact jersey on Saturday. However, he was a full participant on Sunday. Orlov has been in a contact sweater, but Sunday also saw him take a step forward. He and Oshie were both in line rushes, as Oshie skated on the second-line wing while Orlov played on the second pairing with Nick Jensen.

READ MORE ON WHN: Why Washington Capitals Assigned Connor McMichael To Hershey Bears

Garnet Hathaway did not skate on Sunday due to personal reasons.

Here are what the lines looked like:

Alex Ovechkin-Dylan Strome-Conor Sheary

Sonny Milano-Evgeny Kuznetsov-T.J. Oshie

Marcus Johansson-Lars Eller-Anthony Mantha

Aliaksei Protas-Nic Dowd-Nicolas Aube-Kubel

Martin Fehervary-John Carlson

Dmitry Orlov-Nick Jensen

Erik Gustafsson-Trevor van Riemsdyk

Darcy Kuemper

Charlie Lindgren

Joe Snively was the extra forward, while Matt Irwin and Aliaksei Protas were the extra defensemen.

Head coach Peter Laviolette wouldn’t guarantee that Oshie or Orlov would be back for Wednesday but said it marked a step forward for them to be taking part in regular rushes.

The team also saw Connor McMichael head down to the AHL’s Hershey Bears. He is skating on the second line in his season debut with Henrik Borgstrom and Henrik Rybinski.