Caps defenseman Tom Poti was back on the ice at practice on Tuesday for the first time since suffering what is believed to be a chest contusion during a Nov. 20 game against Montreal. He has missed five games so far and likely won’t play Thursday against the Florida Panthers at Verizon Center. Washington coach Bruce Boudreau said Poti could be ready to return by the weekend road trip to Philadelphia and Tampa Bay – but also didn’t rule him out for Thursday.
Meanwhile, forward Alexander Semin (wrist) said he wouldn’t play Thursday despite skating hard. That info hadn’t reached Boudreau.
“That’s news to me. He looked pretty good out there. So I’ll play that by ear, too. I haven’t had a chance to talk with him to see how he was.”
Forward Mike Knuble (five goals, 10 assists) is still targeting Dec. 9 as his return date. That’s when he is set to return from the long-term injured reserve list. Knuble broke his left pinkie finger on Nov. 13 against Minnesota. He skated at practice in a non-contact orange jersey. Defenseman Shaone Morrisonn missed another practice with post-concussion symptoms. He will take some time off before deciding on a possible return date.
“He’s going to take a couple of days off and then restart,” Boudreau said. “It’s a process. He hit a wall and wasn’t getting any better. So instead of continually trying to skate him we said let’s take a rest for a couple days.”
Neither forwards Boyd Gordon (back) nor Quintin Laing (broken jaw) practiced on Tuesday.
