Alex Ovechkin was supposed to play in the Capitals' preseason game in Hershey and skate on a line with the Strome brothers

""You know, one day at lunch up in Washington, I was just sitting there and John Carlson came up to me and he said, 'I heard it's you, your brother, and Ovi as a line,'" Matt Strome said on Tuesday, per a video published to X by FOX 43's Todd Sadowski. "I was obviously excited. Obviously, I didn't play with those two because Ovi had a small injury there.""

"Ovechkin, who broke the NHL goals record on April 6, suffered a lower-body injury on the first day of Capitals Training Camp and missed the team's first four preseason games. The 40-year-old forward did not fly up with the rest of the team to Hershey, despite jokes to the contrary, instead staying home in the Washington, DC area. While Ovechkin did not end up making the trip, Strome still named the preseason game as one of the bright spots in his hockey career."

Washington Capitals played a preseason game at Giant Center in Hershey for the first time in nearly two decades. Spencer Carbery gave roster spots to numerous players who remained from Hershey’s back-to-back Calder Cup championship teams in 2023 and 2024 and skated both brother pairs: Aliaksei and Ilya Protas and Dylan and Matt Strome. John Carlson told Matt Strome he might skate on a line with his brother and Alex Ovechkin, but Ovechkin suffered a lower-body injury at Capitals training camp, missed four preseason games, and did not travel to Hershey. Matt Strome called the game a bright spot in his career and skated with his brother for the first time in over two decades.

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