SUNRISE, Fla. -- Alex Ovechkin will play for the Washington Capitals in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference First Round against the Florida Panthers at FLA Live Arena on Tuesday (7:30 p.m. ET; ESPN2, SN360, TVAS2, BSFL, NBCSWA).
Ovechkin to play for Capitals in Game 1 against Panthers
Feels 'good' after missing three games with upper-body injury
Ovechkin missed the Capitals' final three regular-season games with an upper-body injury but was a full participant in practice Sunday and Monday and coach Peter Laviolette said following the morning skate Tuesday that the forward is ready for the start of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
"To be honest, I haven't really noticed anything different," Washington coach Peter Laviolette said Tuesday. "He was a full participant. He wasn't held out of anything and he competed at full go, so just through the days leading up to this, I think his status becomes cleared and today he's good to go."
Ovechkin said he felt "good" in practice and that he would have played in the Capitals' final three regular-season game had it been the Stanley Cup Playoffs. During his 17 NHL seasons, Ovechkin has sat out 27 regular-season games because of injury and has never missed a playoff game.
"Alex always wants to play, but he was held out," Laviolette said. "It was just best for him. He wants to play all the time. You've got to love a guy like that. He always wants in the lineup. But he was dealing with some stuff and it (was) best just to move forward and have ready for Game 1, if we could get him ready for Game 1."
Ovechkin was injured when he tripped over the stick of goalie Erik Kallgren and crashed left shoulder first into the end boards after failing to score on a breakaway during the third period of Washington's 4-3 shootout loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on April 24. Ovechkin participated in the morning skate prior to facing the New York Islanders on Thursday and skated again before their regular-season finale against the New York Rangers on Friday but did not play in either game.
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The Capitals lost all three games without Ovechkin, getting outscored 12-4.
Ovechkin was fourth in the NHL and led Washington this season with 50 goals in 77 regular-season games. The 36-year-old tied the NHL record shared by Wayne Gretzky and Mike Bossy with his ninth 50-goal season and became the oldest player in League history to score 50 in a season.
"Obviously, he is the best goal scorer in the League and goals are important," defenseman Dmitry Orlov said. "You can see the last three games we didn't score a lot. For sure, we need him as a captain, as a leader, as our goal scorer. So we need everyone. Everybody is healthy right now, so it is good."
Ovechkin is third in NHL history with 780 goals in 1,274 regular-season games after passing Marcel Dionne (731) for fifth against the Rangers on Oct. 13, Brett Hull (741) for fourth against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Nov. 12 and Jaromir Jagr (766) for third against the Islanders on March 15. He is 21 goals behind Gordie Howe in second with 801 goals and 114 behind Gretzky's NHL record of 894.
Ovechkin's 71 goals in 141 playoff games are most among active players and his career average of .50 goals per game is fourth among active players with at least 50 games of playoff experience. That includes when Ovechkin led the League by scoring 15 goals in 24 games and won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player of the playoffs in 2018.
"Obviously, he is best goal scorer in the League and goals are important," defenseman Dmitry Orlov said. "You can see last three games we didn't score a lot. For sure we need him as a captain, as a leader, as our goal scorer, so we need everyone, everybody healthy right now so it is good."
Vitek Vanecek will make his first Stanley Cup Playoff start for Washington in Game 1. He allowed one goal on four shots in 13:10 in relief of Craig Anderson in a 4-3 loss to the Boston Bruins in Game 1 of the first round last season.
Vanecek (20-12-6, 2.67 goals-against average, .908 save percentage) and llya Samsonov (23-12-5, 3.02 GAA, .896 save percentage, three shutouts) each was inconsistent throughout the regular season.
"You'd like to see the goaltender just take off and run," Laviolette said. "Like I said during the regular season, that was also the case. But we used both goaltenders, were able to win a lot of hockey games, have a successful season, somewhat successful with100 points utilizing both goalies."
