Washington Capitals' captain Alex Ovechkin took the next step in his recovery from a fractured leg when he shed the non-contact practice jersey he wore the past week for a regular practice uniform. Joining his teammates and taking physical contact is one of the last checkpoints to get by before the Capitals star can return to game action.

But despite a huge step coming from Ovi, the Capitals are not going to rush their captain back to the lineup. The team's head coach, Spencer Carbery, met with team media recently and outlined some more specifics regarding Ovechkin's health and when the team expects to have their best player back.

"We won't see him before the (holiday) break," he said. "So the target becomes sometime after the break, whether thats that first game, but we won't see him in these next two."

There was hope that the team might welcome Ovechkin back before the NHL's imminent holiday break. The team has two games left against the Los Angeles Kings and Boston Bruins, but they won't have their captain back for either contest.

More time to rest is not the worst thing for the Capitals' 39-year-old forward. The team has fared incredibly well despite not having the greatest goal scorer in the history of the NHL available. Since Ovechkin's injury, the Caps have played 14 games without Ovi. In that span, they are 9-4-1. It might not be a President's Trophy pace, but it's quite impressive nonetheless.

The Capitals are fighting for the division and conference lead presently. They've dropped their last two games, the first set of back-to-back losses since Ovechkin's initial injury, but it's only impacted their record slightly. The team enters the upcoming break with a 22-8-2 record and a point up on the New Jersey Devils for first place in the Metropolitan Division.

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