After leaving Wednesday morning's early skate only about eight minutes in, the status of Capitals winger Alex Ovechkin is up in the air. He was seen limping after the team's 5-0 loss to Carolina on Monday night after a hip check by the Hurricanes Bryan Allen about eight minutes into the second period and was limited to a mere 15 minutes 43 seconds of ice time.
Washington Post Capitals insider Katie Carrera was at the morning skate and witnessed Ovechking attempting to skate on it.
While he was on the ice, Ovechkin appeared to be testing something out. Just before he went back down the tunnel he tried to gather speed and explode through the neutral zone but after a few strides had to pull up. He skated over to the bench immediately and left the ice.
Keith Aucoin has been recalled from Hershey just in case Ovechkin is not ready to go this evening. If he is unable to go, the task gets stiffer for the Capitals to reverse their fortunes after losing five of their last six games, still two points out of the Southeast Division lead behind Winnipeg and Florida and two points behind Toronto for the final spot in the Eastern Conference.