Washington Capitals center Evgeny Kuznetsov participated in the team’s optional skate Friday and will likely be a game-time decision for Saturday’s Game 3. Kuznetsov has not received medical clearance, so he wasn’t made available to reporters. But he handled the puck and skated with his teammates. The 26-year-old is dealing with an upper-body injury after taking a hard hit from Vegas defenseman Brayden McNabb in Game 2. The hit occurred in the first period and Kuznetsov, who grabbed his left arm after getting slammed into the glass, did not return. “Kuzy is one of our most important players,” said center Lars Eller. “He’s an amazing talent and he can make the difference in any game. So we hope to have him back for tomorrow, but we’ll see. If not, we’ve shown that we can overcome those kinds of losses.” If he can’t play, winger Alex Chiasson will likely be activated with forward Chandler Stephenson moving to center. Kuznetsov has had an excellent postseason, recording 11 goals and 14 assists. He has missed just five games since the 2014-15 season, proving to be durable. Coach Barry Trotz said Kuznetsov remains “day to day.” “It’s always nice to see a guy that was hurt,” said star Alex Ovechkin. “I’m sure he will be fine.” • Corrected from earlier version regarding number of goals and assists Kuznetsov recorded this postseason. Sign up for Daily Newsletters Manage Newsletters Copyright © 2021 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission.<doc-sep>Morning skate at Kettler Capitals Iceplex offers some encouraging news for literally everyone. According to reports from The Washington Post’s Isabelle Khurshudyan and NBC Sports’ JJ Regan, Caps forward Evgeny Kuznetsov was a full participant, taking rushes with the top line and working with the first power-play unit. We’ll know more later, but right now this looks like the best-case scenario. The lines, as per Isabelle, who writes for the Post, which you should subscribe to: Ovechkin – Kuznetsov – Wilson Vrana – Backstrom – Oshie Burakovsky – Eller – Connolly Stephenson – Beagle – DSP Kempny – Carlson Orlov – Niskanen Orpik – Djoos We are contractually obligated to embed her follow-up for #branding reasons: So, yeah, Russian machine(s) never break https://t.co/GoftTzK7Gg — Isabelle Khurshudyan (@ikhurshudyan) June 2, 2018 JJ offers this wrinkle: More evidence: Kuznetsov is practicing with the top PP unit — JJ Regan (@JJReganNBCS) June 2, 2018 Kuznetsov was injured by a hip check from Brayden McNabb in Game Two. He was seen favoring his wrist as he left the game. Upon returning to DC, Kuznetsov kept his hand out of sight of bystanders. Trotz termed the injury status as day-to-day, and said he will be a game-time decision tonight. Kuznetsov remains cagey. Kuznetsov: “We’ll see.” Didn’t have a problem with McNabb’s hit. “Hockey play,” he said. Also said he wasn’t in the concussion protocol. — Isabelle Khurshudyan (@ikhurshudyan) June 2, 2018 Kuznetsov has 25 points in 21 playoff games. Game Two ended an 11-game point streak for him. Headline photo: Capitals<doc-sep>Ovechkin has had a handful of close calls with injuries throughout his career, but he’s either played through them or simply avoided getting seriously hurt. Since having shoulder surgery five years ago, when he was still playing in the Kontinental Hockey League, Kuznetsov has displayed an Ovechkin-like durability, a quality of his game that’s arguably underappreciated. Kuznetsov missed three games this season because of a shoulder injury, and since he made his NHL debut four years ago, that’s the only time he’s been out of the lineup because of injury. Among current Capitals, just Ovechkin has played more games than Kuznetsov over the past four seasons — and it’s a difference of one game. Ovechkin’s famous “Russian machine never breaks” line might need to be recrafted to accommodate a second.<doc-sep>Alex Ovechkin predicted Evgeny Kuznetsov would be fine after taking a big hit in the Capitals' 3-2 road victory over the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup final. While his linemate hasn't yet been cleared to play, Washington's captain was onto something. Kuznetsov took part in an optional practice Friday morning, two days after getting rocked by Vegas defenceman Brayden McNabb. The Russian centre, who leads the overall NHL playoff scoring race with 25 points (11 goals, 14 assists), skated off Wednesday night and went straight to the locker-room favouring his left arm after the crushing first-period collision that saw him tumble to the ice along the boards. The team said at the time he suffered an upper-body injury. Washington head coach Barry Trotz said Friday that Kuznetsov, who was not made available to the media, will "probably" be a game-time decision when the series shifts to Capital One Arena on Saturday night. So now the refs and NBC will just ignore the contact to the head of Kuznetsov? No call. #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/rtdx4zAp5q —@stopthehats But Ovechkin, one point behind Kuznetsov in the scoring race, reiterated he was confident his regular linemate would be good to go. "He's one of our top guys," Ovechkin said at Washington's practice facility. "Of course it's very important to see him skating and I'm pretty sure he's going to be OK (for Game 3)." The best-of-seven series is tied at one game apiece. Ovechkin, along with defencemen Brooks Orpik, John Carlson and a few other teammates, didn't take part in Friday's on-ice session. But the focus was squarely on Kuznetsov, who didn't seem to be favouring anything as he went through a series of drills with teammates. "You need everyone at this time of year," said Tom Wilson, Kuznetsov's other usual winger. "He's a big piece of our team. It's good to see him get out there and feel the puck. "He looked pretty good." Kuznetsov has been fairly durable throughout his career, something that Trotz has seen first-hand in his four years behind Washington's bench. Washington's Evgeny Kuznetsov clutches his arm after taking a hit from Vegas' Brayden McNabb during Wednesday's Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final. Kuznetsov left the game and did not return. (Harry How/Getty Images) "He's an athlete who takes care of himself," said the coach. "His background coming over from Russia ... they're a tough group. "He's got some toughness to his game and he bounces back." The Capitals will host their first Stanley Cup game in 20 years on Saturday. Washington was swept in four games by the Detroit Red Wings in the club's only other final appearance in 1998. "I'm excited," said Ovechkin, who waited 13 seasons to make the third round, let alone play at home in the final. "Everybody's excited in Washington. It's going to be fun, it's going to be interesting, it's going to be hard. "That's why we worked so hard to be in this spot and be in this moment." Washington picked up that big road win over the expansion Knights in Game 2 — accented by Braden Holtby's incredible stick save on Alex Tuch with two minutes left in regulation — following a sloppy 6-4 loss in the opener. But the Capitals are just 4-5 at home in these playoffs, and apart from a 3-0 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference final that staved off elimination, have yet to really get going in front of their own fans. "We've had some games on the road where we've had no choice but to win," Washington winger Brett Connolly said. "There's been a lot more desperation in a few of those road games. It's just the way it works out sometimes. We're preparing the same way, it just sometimes doesn't work out. Knights yet to lose 2 straight "If we take care of our business here at home we're going to give ourselves a really good opportunity to win everything." The Knights, meanwhile, are 6-2 on the road in the playoffs and have yet to lose two straight in any fashion this spring. Vegas is 13-4 in the post-season, but was tied 1-1 through the first two games against both the San Jose Sharks and Winnipeg Jets after sweeping the Los Angeles Kings in the opening round. "You lose one, you don't hit the panic button," Vegas head coach Gerard Gallant said after his team's practice at Capital One Arena. "You get ready to play the next one. We lost the game 3-2 at home, get on the road and get ready to play another game. Now it's the best-of-five. "We'll do the best we can [in Game 3] and hopefully we play a real good game on the road."<doc-sep>
LAS VEGAS NV - MAY 30: Washington center Evgeny Kuznetsov (92) comes off the ice with a hurt arm in the 1st period during a game between the Washington Capitals and the Vegas Golden Knights in game 2 of the Stanley Cup finals in Las Vegas NV on May 30, 2018. (Photo by John McDonnell/The Washington Post via Getty Images) If Evgeny Kuznetsov is unable to play Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final, how will the Washington Capitals fill the void? The Washington Capitals evened the Stanley Cup Final at one game apiece with a 3-2 win Wednesday night, but they did suffer a significant potential loss. Center Evgeny Kuznetsov left Game 2 in the first period, after a questionable hit from Golden Knights’ defenseman Brayden McNabb. Kuznetsov appeared to be clutching his left hand after the hit, and on Thursday he was deemed day-to-day by Capitals coach Barry Trotz with an upper body injury. There’s an extra day between games, as the series moves to the Washington, D.C.,area for Games 3 and 4, and Trotz allowed for the possibility of more information on Friday. Kuznetsov leads all scorers in these playoffs with 25 points (14 goals and 11 assists), and he entered Game 2 on an 11-point streak. He’s been playing on Washington’s top line, in a prime spot alongside Alex Ovechkin. But if Kuznetsov can’t go in Game 3, or beyond, how will the Capitals attempt to fill the significant void? Nicklas Backstrom missed time earlier in this playoff run with a hand injury. But he returned to action in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals, and he’s currently on a four-game point streak of his own with 19 points (five goals, 14 assists) in 17 playoff games thus far. The easiest and most likely move for Trotz is to bump Backstrom up to the top line with Ovechkin, but there are still minutes to fill of Kuznetsov is out. Lars Eller has been productive during Washington’s playoff run, with 17 points in 21 games played. He was particularly good in Game 2, with three points (two assists) while winning 10 out of 16 face-offs (62.5 percent) in 18:37 of ice time. Jay Beagle topped 14 minutes of ice time (15:30) for just the sixth time in 20 playoff games he’s played on Wednesday night, and Chandler Stephenson played close to 15 minutes (14:52) after barely topping 10 minutes of ice time in Game 1. Backstrom is the obvious, and quite good, plan to automatically be bumped into a more prominent role if Kuznetsov is unable to play (or is at all limited) in Game 3 Saturday night. Eller would likely step into a little more ice time, as would Beagle and Stephenson if Game 2 with Kuznetsov mostly out was any indication for the latter two. The importance of the Stanley Cup Final assures Kuznetsov will do everything possible to play, even if he has to be limited to special situations at less than full strength. But all things considered, the Capitals are in a solid position to fill the void if he does miss any games.