Bear was hit in the head by a puck while sitting on the bench last night and is doubtful to play Sunday vs. the Senators. With Bear likely out, either William Lagesson or Kris Russell will likely play.
Ovechkin has missed the last four games after being added to the COVID-19 protocol list a few weeks ago. Ovechkin was activated from the list and was on the ice for the Capitals morning skate, suggesting that he could return to the lineup tonight vs. the Bruins.
Wilson will be a game-time decision for the second straight game but participated in the morning skate, which is a good sign for his availability tonight. Wilson will skate with Nicklas Backstrom and Jakub Vrana if he plays.
Eller left Tuesday's game with an upper-body injury and will miss Thursday's game vs. the Islanders. With Eller out, T.J. Oshie is expected to shift to centre for the game and Michael Sgarbossa is expected to see some PP2 time.
Wilson missed Sunday's game vs. the Sabres but was on the ice for Tuesday's morning skate and will be a game-time decision tonight. Wilson, who has three goals and three assists (six points) in five games this season, will skate on a line with Lars Eller and Richard Panik if he plays.
Wilson left Friday's game vs. the Sabres with a lower-body injury and did not practice on Saturday. Head coach Peter Laviolette listed him as questionable, so monitor his status when the Capitals hit the ice for warmups at 2:30 PM ET. If he can't play, expect the Capitals to go with 11 forwards and seven defensemen.
Dubois made it well-known that he was looking for a trade out of Columbus and things reached a tipping point on Thursday when head coach John Tortorella benched him for nearly the entire game. Given their backs were against the wall, the Blue Jackets did a pretty nice job turning a disgruntled Dubois and a third-round pick into Laine and Roslovic. For Dubois, he heads to Winnipeg where he will slot in behind Mark Scheifele as their No.2 centre and will most likely have either Nikolaj Ehlers or Kyle Connor on his wing.
Milano was banged up in Wednesday's game vs. the Wild and was moved to IR to open up a roster spot on Friday. Max Jones was recalled to take his place on the roster and likely in the lineup.
Ovechkin was among four Capitals added to the COVID-19 protocol list on Wednesday after it was determined they were in a hotel room together during the team's recent road trip. "Right now the players are in quarantine and, at this point, I believe it's four games and then under review and so we'll go from there," head coach Peter Laviolette said. In addition to Ovechkin, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Dmitry Orlov and Ilya Samsonov are all expected to be out as well.
After a breakout 2019 campaign, he finished 2020 with 38 points (12G / 26A) in 58 games. Strome appeared set to open the 2021 campaign as the Blackhawks' No.3 centre behind Jonathan Toews and Kirby Dach, but with both with Toews dealing with a health issue and Dach out for five months, Strome will be their No.1 centre when they start training camp on Monday.
