

(Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

Their winning streak extended to three games, the Washington Capitals returned to practice without Tom Wilson and Brooks Laich, who skated earlier Wednesday morning as their rehabilitation continues from recent injuries.

“We were going to play it day-by-day,” Trotz said. “It was just going to be a decision on how they felt this morning and we had the ice available for them. I knew one of them would probably skate. I wasn’t sure if both of them would. I’d probably say we’re looking more like, obviously the weekend, probably more like Saturday than Friday right now based on where we were today.”

Wilson, who suffered a lower-body injury last weekend against Carolina and left early into the second period, as “got a shot for Saturday” when the Capitals begin a six-day, three-game road swing in St. Louis.

Laich, on the other hand, “is probably a little more unclear.” The shoulder injury incurred Oct. 18 against Florida has not yet disappeared, instead getting re-aggravated last Friday in Chicago, Laich’s first game back.

“Actually on Brooks, I held him back a little while,” Trotz said. “He was concerned, he wanted to play. He says I can go, I want to go. I pulled back on him, because a couple things he said were red flags for me, knowing he didn’t have the strength, quite didn’t have the confidence.”

Laich intimated as much during his weekly appearance with The Sports Junkies on 106.7 The Fan earlier that morning, telling the crew his “frustration level is probably at an all-time high.” Laich said he underwent an MRI Tuesday which revealed “some good news” and added the Capitals had “something planned for today” as far as additional treatment but declined to go into details.

Laich’s injury happened on a routine collision with Panthers forward Shawn Thornton near the Capitals bench. Upon contact, Laich spun around, grabbed his shoulder and immediately exited into the tunnel. He told The Junkies the pain returned after Washington ended its five-game winless streak by beating the Blackhawks at United Center.

“I played the game because it was a game we had to win,” Laich said. “Maybe it was a bit premature to return but I had to play in that game. By the time I left the arena I couldn’t touch my left hand to my face, so obviously it was a bit sore. Since then we’ve been trying to get it to calm down, back to being functional.”

Lower-body conditioning hasn’t been an issue for Laich, who continued to work out with trainer Mark Nemish. But so long as pain lingers in his left shoulder, the Capitals don’t want to rush him back.

“It hurts right around the collarbone area, there’s just very limited mobility, very limited strength,” Laich said.

Added Trotz: “There’s a difference between being hurt and being injured. Hurt you can play through it. Injured that’s a little more questionable. Just through experience, you’ve got to trust the trainers who have done this a long time and know the players probably better than the coaches. Between those three factors, I think you probably evaluate the player, the trainer, then your own instincts, then you make that decision.”