WASHINGTON — Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin will miss the NHL All-Star Game in Las Vegas on Saturday after entering the league’s COVID-19 protocols Wednesday.

Ovechkin was going to play in his eighth All-Star Game. He’s tied for third in the NHL with 29 goals and is fourth on the career list with 759.

“I’m sure he’s extremely disappointed,” Capitals Coach Peter Laviolette said. “He’s disappointed, first and foremost that he’s not in the game tonight, and that he’s not playing.

“I’ve never seen a guy that does everything possible to get into a game and hates coming out of games and hates not being able to contribute and help his team win. For that, first and foremost, he’s probably upset. The All-Star Game, it’s a nice nod, but he’s certainly one of those big figures that goes to the All-Star Game. It was well-deserved this year, the nod and I’m sure that he’s upset with that, too.”

Ovechkin will be replaced on the Metropolitan Division roster by his teammate, forward Tom Wilson, who’ll be in his first All-Star Game. Washington center Evgeny Kuznetsov is in his second All-Star Game.

“I called him on the way here,” Wilson said. “And, it’s kind of like, `Thank you, I guess.'”

• Morning nasal swabs, part of the daily routine for NHL players in recent months, are going away.

The league updated its COVID-19 protocols earlier this week, dropping daily testing requirements for fully vaccinated players, citing a “declining positivity rate.”

Vancouver Canucks Coach Bruce Boudreau said the change was long overdue.

“I’m glad they’re doing what they’re doing,” he said. “If the guy is sick and you can tell he’s sick, absolutely test him, make sure he stays away from the players and everything else. But if you’re not sick and you have no symptoms, I think everybody concerned would be very happy that we just go on with life and not have to test.”

Virtually every NHL team has been hit by COVID-19 cases this season, forcing the league to postpone 104 games.

Last month, the Canucks saw their top three goaltenders, three forwards and two assistant coaches simultaneously sidelined by the virus. Boudreau said the last five Vancouver players to enter the league’s protocol were asymptomatic.

“We lost five good players for it seems like not really any apparent reason,” he said.

For players on Canadian teams, away games have added an extra layer of complication. Several who tested positive on cross-border trips were forced to stay behind in the U.S. as they waited out the 10 days required before re-entering Canada.

“Guys are sometimes holding their breath just hoping they can get home,” Vancouver defenseman Luke Schenn said. “Sometimes you’re on a 10-day trip and you haven’t seen your wife and your kids in a while and on that last day, you’re just trying not to get a positive test, whether you feel anything or not. Guys just want to get back and see their families.”

Dave Lowry, interim coach of the Winnipeg Jets, said the latest changes should help take some of the guesswork out of setting lineups.

“It’s really hard to be told you can’t come to work when you’re not feeling anything and you’re positive,” he said. “So from that standpoint, I think it puts a sense of relief in that you’re not getting tested every day.”

The league’s latest protocol recommends players receive booster vaccines as they become available and updates the mask policy, “strongly” recommending the use of N95 or KN95 masks while prohibiting the use of cloth masks. NHL personnel are encouraged to limit their exposure in public settings.

The latest protocol are “a breath of fresh air,” Jets defenseman Brendan Dillon said. “Ultimately, we want everyone to be safe, we want everyone to feel comfortable. And I think we’re accomplishing that still with these new rules.”

BLACKHAWKS: Speaking night at a town hall organized by the team, owner Rocky Wirtz angrily rejected any conversation connected to the franchise’s response when a player said he was sexually assaulted by an assistant coach.

It was the first time the franchise’s top leaders had faced questions in public since the team published a report by an outside law firm that found the organization badly mishandled Kyle Beach’s allegations that he was assaulted by then-video coach Brad Aldrich during the team’s run to the 2010 Stanley Cup title.

The town hall on a snowy night in Chicago was supposed to be the latest step in the franchise’s work to repair its tattered reputation. But it was derailed by Wirtz’s response when a reporter tried to ask Danny Wirtz, Rocky’s son and the team’s CEO, about what the organization was doing to address the power dynamic between players and coaches in light of Beach’s accusations.

“I’m going to answer the question, not Danny,” Rocky Wirtz said. “I think the report speaks for itself. The people that were involved are no longer here. We’re not looking back at 2010, we’re looking forward. And we’re not going to talk about 2010.”

When Danny Wirtz tried to answer the question, Rocky Wirtz cut off his son and said it was none of the reporter’s business. Asked how it wasn’t the reporter’s business, Rocky Wirtz responded: “You don’t work for the company.”

“If somebody in the company asks that question, we’ll answer it,” Wirtz continued. “And I think you should get on to the next subject. We’re not going to talk about Kyle Beach. We’re not going to talk about anything that happened. Now we’re moving on. What more do I have to say?”

Longtime general manager Stan Bowman resigned after the review by Jenner & Block was finished in October, and Al MacIsaac, another top hockey executive with the Blackhawks, also departed the organization. The NHL fined the team $2 million for “the organization’s inadequate internal procedures and insufficient and untimely response.”

The Blackhawks reached a confidential settlement with Beach after the lawsuit by the former first-round pick brought his allegations to the forefront. Aldrich told investigators for the team’s report that the encounter was consensual.

A second suit filed by a former high school student whom Aldrich was convicted of assaulting in Michigan was quietly dismissed “by stipulation or agreement” in December.

The investigation commissioned by the team found no evidence that Rocky or Danny Wirtz were aware of the allegations before Beach’s lawsuit was brought to their attention ahead of its filing. President of Business Operations Jaime Faulkner, who also participated in the town hall, was hired in December 2020.

WEDNESDAY’S GAMES

KRAKEN 3, ISLANDERS 0: Jared McCann had a goal and an assist, and Philipp Grubauer stopped 19 shots for the first shutout in franchise history as expansion Seattle won at New York.

Mason Appleton had a goal and an assist and Vince Dunn also scored to help Seattle to its third win in seven games. Grubauer got his 19th career shutout and first since last May 12 against Los Angeles in the season finale while playing for Colorado.

OILERS 5, CAPITALS 3: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins broke a tie with a short-handed goal with 4:03 remaining in Edmonton’s win over host Washington.

Nugent-Hopkins added an empty-net goal with 1:05 remaining to wrap up the Oilers’ fifth victory in six games.

KINGS 5, RED WINGS 3: Phillip Danault scored twice, including the go-ahead goal in the third period, and Los Angeles finished off a highly successful six-game trip with a win over Detroit.

Arthur Kaliyev, Victor Arvidsson and Adrian Kempe also scored for the Kings, who went 4-0-2 on their trip. Jonathan Quick, who is 6-1 in his last seven games against Detroit, made 22 saves.