Roman Stubbs of The Washington Post reports that Alexander Ovechkin returned to the Washington Capitals lineup on Thursday.
Alex Ovechkin will play tonight vs. Anaheim, per Laviolette.
— Roman Stubbs (@romanstubbs) February 23, 2023
Ovechkin missed the last four games due to his father’s death. The Capitals, not coincidentally, lost all four games, falling into the 11th in the Eastern Conference. Ovechkin’s return versus the Anaheim Ducks was not successful. They lost 4-2, and Ovechkin was scoreless. The loss dropped the Capitals to 12th in the conference.
The Capitals traded Dmitry Orlov and Garnet Hathaway earlier on Thursday, and with this loss, the team may decide it’s time to start trading other veteran players.
The NHL trade deadline is March 3. The Capitals have until then to figure out if they are buyers or sellers.
The Capitals are +5000 to win the cup. You can find the odds for every team to raise the cup on the FanDuel Sportsbook.