ARLINGTON, Va. — Tied for the most points in the NHL, the Washington Capitals are faring better in the ongoing battle against the coronavirus than many of their rivals.
The Capitals navigated a stretch in which top players Nicklas Backstrom, Evgeny Kuznetsov, T.J. Oshie and others went into league COVID-19 protocol and are no longer missing any players at practice because of virus-related reasons. Defenseman Martin Fehervary and goaltender Vitek Vanecek were back on the ice Tuesday and appear on track to play in Washington’s next game Friday at the St. Louis Blues.
“You always want to be as healthy as possible,” defenseman John Carlson said. “And whether that’s real injuries or the other stuff, it’s great to see guys (back). No one wants to be away from the guys. No one wants to be away from the rink. It takes a toll on guys.”
It’s taking a toll around the league, with dozens of players – including Toronto’s Auston Matthews – on virus protocol and teams playing with lineups full of taxi squad and minor league call-ups. A total of 92 games have been postponed so far, many for Canadian crowd restrictions in the hope of pushing them back to a time in which fans are allowed to attend.
Much like Washington, the Dallas Stars are getting healthier after an outbreak. They activated captain Jamie Benn a day after getting 10 other players and two support staff back. Dallas is set to host Florida on Thursday, its first game since Dec. 20.
Buffalo now has nine players on the COVID protocol list after adding forwards Anders Bjork, Peyton Krebs and Alex Tuch. San Jose captain Logan Couture and forward Lane Pederson and Boston winger Jake DeBrusk also went into protocol.
The Capitals were without five players for virus reasons when the team returned from the extended Christmas break Dec. 27. Despite being ravaged by cases and injuries, they’ve gone 2-0-1 since and are tied with the division-rival New York Rangers with a league-high 48 points.
“For the most part I think our guys did a good job in spite of everything that had happened,” coach Peter Laviolette said. “We want to win the first game of the year, we want to win the 10th game of the year, and if you can play well enough, which I think we have in a lot of games, then you can put points in the column and right now it’s just math. Just add it up and this is where we sit.”
DEVILS: Defenseman Dougie Hamilton is scheduled to have surgery Wednesday on his broken jaw after taking a puck to the face early in the team’s game at Washington.
The Devils did not give a timetable for his return. They put Hamilton on injured reserve retroactive to Sunday, when he was struck by a shot from Capitals defenseman Justin Schultz seven minutes into the first period.
The team also announced that veteran goaltender Jonathan Bernier underwent successful right hip surgery and will miss the remainder of the season. Bernier’s absence has left young starter Mackenzie Blackwood without a valuable backup and mentor.
TUESDAY’S GAMES
LIGHTNING 7, BLUE JACKETS 2: Ondrej Palat had two goals and an assist as visiting Tampa Bay ended a three-game losing streak.
Brayden Point added a goal and two assists for the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions, who scored three power-play goals. Corey Perry and Patrick Maroon each had a goal and an assist, Anthony Cirelli contributed two assists and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and Alex Killorn also scored.
Gus Nyquist provided a goal and an assist for an illness-ravaged Columbus team, which dropped its fourth in a row against the Lightning. Dean Kukan also scored for the Blue Jackets.
Tampa Bay goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 20 shots in his 17th win, tying Frederik Andersen of Carolina for the NHL lead.
PANTHERS 6, FLAMES 2: Patric Hornqvist scored twice, Sergei Bobrovsky stopped a season-high 47 shots and host Florida won its fourth straight.
Joe Thornton got a history-making go-ahead goal late in the first period for Florida, which improved to 18-3-0 on home ice. Anthony Duclair, Ryan Lomberg and Lucas Carlsson also scored for Florida, and Brandon Montour had the second three-assist game of his career.
Johnny Gaudreau got his 14th goal of the season for Calgary, and Blake Coleman also scored for the Flames.
Thornton has scored in every calendar year since 1997.
RED WINGS 6, SHARKS 2: Tyler Bertuzzi and Pius Suter each scored twice, including short-handed goals on the same penalty, and Detroit won at home.
Dylan Larkin and Robby Fabbri also scored for Detroit. Alex Nedeljkovic made 24 saves.
Jasper Weatherby and Alexander Barabanov scored for the Sharks. James Reimer stopped 20 of 24 shots before being replaced by Adin Hill (five saves) at the start of the third period.
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