Matt Niskanen, one of the Capitals best defenders, has missed 14 games this season due to injury. In October, Nisky suffered a thumb injury against the Devils and missed a full month of games. The Capitals wobbled during that time.

Tuesday, the Virginia, MN native sat out against Carolina with an upper-body injury, but that appears likely to be the only game he’ll miss.

With the Capitals having four days off this week, Niskanen has healed and will not miss any other time.

During Saturday’s practice, Niskanen was a full go and skated on the first pair with Dmitry Orlov – his usual partner.

Niskanen, who has been out since finishing last Saturday’s game, is on the ice for practice again. We’ll see how much he does, but he is wearing his usual navy blue jersey. #Caps — Tarik El-Bashir⌨️🎙🏒 (@TarikNBCS) January 6, 2018

Niskanen finished practice today, so that’s probably a good sign for tomorrow. #Caps — Tarik El-Bashir⌨️🎙🏒 (@TarikNBCS) January 6, 2018

Afterwards, Niskanen spoke to the press and lamented how lucky he was to only miss one game.

Matt Niskanen (and the #Caps) caught a break due to the team’s light workload this month… pic.twitter.com/rNFAVm4jrI — Tarik El-Bashir⌨️🎙🏒 (@TarikNBCS) January 6, 2018

“One of those fortunate breaks I could have easily missed five (games) with a different part of the schedule,” Niskanen said. “We’ll see how things go for the rest of today and if I’m in tomorrow – hopefully I am – we’ll go from there.”

Head coach Barry Trotz confirmed Niskanen would likely play Sunday during the team’s matinee against the Blues.

Trotz on Niskanen’s availability: “It looks good. Unless he has a setback today, he’s good to go.” #Caps — Tarik El-Bashir⌨️🎙🏒 (@TarikNBCS) January 6, 2018

Headline photo: Cara Bahniuk