Capitals forward Garnet Hathaway has been placed in the NHL's COVID-19 protocol and is unavailable for Monday's game against the Anaheim Ducks, the team has announced. Hathaway is now the third Washington player currently in the protocol joining teammates Nic Dowd and Trevor van Riemsdyk.
The slow increase of players being placed on the protocol is a definite concern within the organization. Head coach Peter Laviolette canceled Sunday's scheduled practice and held a short meeting on the ice during Monday's morning skate.
"Just with the way things have gone in the last 48 hours, we're trying to keep guys apart," Laviolette said. "Talked to the guys real quick on the ice instead of putting them into a confined room and just doing whatever we can to stay as safe as we can."
The Capitals have enough players, for now, to make up for the losses to the lineup which is good as there is uncertainty at AHL affiliate Hershey as well. The Bears had their games postponed through the weekend as they are dealing with their own COVID concerns. The team returned to practice on Sunday.
With Hathaway out, here are the lines from the morning skate:
Alex Ovechkin - Evgeny Kuznetsov - Tom Wilson
Carl Hagelin - Lars Eller - T.J. Oshie
Conor Sheary - Connor McMichael - Daniel Sprong
Beck Malenstyn - Aliaksei Protas - Brett Leason
Martin Fehervary - John Carlson
Dmitry Orlov - Nick Jensen
Matt Irwin - Justin Schultz
Ilya Samsonov will start in net.