Photo: @loshie17
Tuesday night, TJ Oshie and Karl Alzner went to the Washington Nationals game along with their wives Lauren and Mandy, both of whom are pregnant with their couples’ second children. Lauren posted a selfie that her husband TJ took on her Instagram account.
The Nationals lost 4-3 to the Philadelphia Phillies. Michael Latta, Mike Weber, and Jason Chimera were also spotted at Nats Park.
Is this Latta at the Nats game?? #Caps pic.twitter.com/79GBiRdRLq
— Nick Palastro (@Palastro24) April 26, 2016
Update: Jason Chimera just joined Latta and Weber
— Nick Palastro (@Palastro24) April 26, 2016
It was nice to see Alzner milling about. Tuesday morning, the Caps defenseman was held out of the Caps first practice ahead of their second-round series against the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Caps termed it a maintenance day due to bumps and bruises from the Flyers series.
Trotz on Alzner y'day: "He's a warrior, he played a lot of minutes, he got a lot of pucks that hit him and he played a lot of body on guys."
— Katie Brown (@katiebhockey) April 27, 2016
Then Wednesday morning, Alzner missed his second consecutive practice.
Karl Alzner being held out of the Capitals' practice for the second consecutive day. That's … a little odd. Probably some concern there.
— Zac Boyer (@ZacBoyer) April 27, 2016
More from CSN Mid-Atlantic’s Chuck Gormley:
For what it’s worth, Alzner looked fine on Tuesday, smiling to reporters as he walked by them without any signs of injury. Nonetheless, Alzner would not miss two days of practice before a playoff series unless he is hurting somewhere. He holds the Caps iron man record with 458 consecutive games played in the regular season.
Without Alzner, Mike Weber practiced on a second defensive unit with Matt Niskanen.
There’s a world of difference between “watching a baseball game” health and “playoff hockey-ready” health. Karl is apparently somewhere between the two right now. The puck drops in DC Thursday night at 8 PM, and the Caps would very much like their shutdown defenseman there for it.