suffered a leg injury during the preseason but practiced fully on Wednesday.“He is going to be available for us (Thursday),” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. “I think he looks quick, he is in really good shape. He

WASHINGTON (AP) The sight of Evgeny Kuznetsov clutching his left arm and leaving the ice after a hit from Brayden McNabb isn’t as big a threat to the Washington Capitals‘ title hopes as it might seem.Not after the Capitals withstood three games without Nicklas Backstrom. Not after they missed Kuznetsov for most of Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final and still beat the Vegas Golden Knights to tie the series.They’d love to have their leading scorer in the lineup Saturday night in Washington Adidas James Neal Jersey , but with superstar captain Alex Ovechkin and several top players producing and filling the void, the Capitals are built to handle life without Kuznetsov if it comes to that.”We’ve had some guys been out here and there these playoffs,” Backstrom said. ”It’s hard to replace Kuznetsov the way he’s been playing, but if that’s the case it is what it is and we just have to have other guys step up.”Coach Barry Trotz provided no update on Kuznetsov on Thursday other than to say the Russian center is day to day. The team practices again Friday.It didn’t look very good for Kuznetsov when he went down the tunnel in the first period Wednesday night and didn’t return. But Ovechkin scored his first career Stanley Cup Final goal on the power play, and Lars Eller, bumped up the lineup to fill in for Kuznetsov, had a goal and two assists.No one player can make up for the potential loss of Kuznetsov, who has 11 goals and 14 assists in 21 playoff games, though Washington’s depth down the middle looks solid with Backstrom, Eller, Jay Beagle and, if need be, Chandler Stephenson. Eller played a key role in two big victories against Tampa Bay in the Eastern Conference final without Backstrom, and will once again be one of the most important players on the ice if Kuznetsov isn’t healthy.”Nick has gone out or Kuzy has been out Adidas Austin Czarnik Jersey , Lars has elevated his game and comes up in a more prominent role,” Trotz said. ”I think he embraces the challenge. He takes the moments very seriously that he has to step up and try to find a way to produce, and he has. He’s a veteran player who has good hockey sense, and he’s strong on the puck, and I think his game translates well in the playoffs.”It doesn’t hurt that the Capitals can lean on Ovechkin in times of need, and they have received strong performances from top-six wingers Tom Wilson, T.J. Oshie and Jakub Vrana and defenseman John Carlson.It’s the kind of production Vegas is looking for from its top line of Jonathan Marchessault, William Karlsson and Reilly Smith. Going on the road means coach Gerard Gallant can’t pick matchups, so he’s counting on his best players to play like it.”I don’t care who they play against,” Gallant said. ”We’re going to play well and work hard and compete hard. (Wednesday) night they didn’t have the offensive outburst they usually have. You’re not going to be at your best every night. I expect them to be really good for us like they have all season long.”Gallant tipped his hat to the Capitals, saying they deserved to win Game 2 based on how they performed after losing Kuznetsov. It would be more difficult to sustain that effort and adrenaline for an entire game without him, though it’s a test they passed without Backstrom earlier in the playoffs.”It’ll be a big loss, but as you saw in the Pittsburgh series when Nick went down, sometimes that kind of energizes some other guys to get in there and be able to make some plays Adidas Elias Lindholm Jersey ,” Oshie said. ”So we’ll roll with the punches.”Rolling with the punches has become somewhat of the Capitals’ identity this season and into the playoffs. They got some more in the form of a ground stop at the airport after they landed on Thursday as lightning kept them from getting off the plane.Trotz considers it just another roadblock for his team to get over.”Our guys are fine,” he said. ”It’s another layer of adversity that we have to go through all the time.”—More Stanley Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/tag/StanleyCupFinals— Last season, the Colorado Avalanche and New Jersey Devils were two of the biggest surprises in the National Hockey League, each ending droughts by reaching the Stanley Cup playoffs.Neither team is going to sneak up on anyone this season, yet both are off to strong starts heading into their first meeting of 2018-19 on Thursday night at Prudential Center.The Devils (4-0-0) are the only NHL team not to have lost a game so far. The Avalanche (3-1-2) are playing well despite losing two straight.Article continues below ...“It’s a challenge playing these guys,” Devils center Brian Boyle said. “They’re a lot like us — young, fast, hungry. It should be a good game.”New Jersey is outscoring the opposition by a dominating 17-4 through four games. Goalie Keith Kinkaid already has two shutouts, including Tuesday’s 3-0 win over the Dallas Stars, and he owns a sparkling .961 save percentage to go along with a 1.00 goals-against average.“He’s just taken that net and owned every part of it,” Devils defenseman Will Butcher told the team’s website. “He’s taken a huge step in his game.”Kinkaid is not alone, though, in the Devils’ early-season success. Kyle Palmieri scored the opening goal in all four games this season, and has seven through four games. Jean-Sebastien Dea has three goals in four games.Eight players have three points or more Adidas Tyler Graovac Jersey , including four defensemen. The team has killed off 13 of 14 penalties and is perfect the last 13 times short-handed.“It’s fun to come to the rink right now,” Palmieri said. “The team’s in a good mood, and we’re happy with the way we’re playing. We’re beating some really good teams, so, hopefully, we just keep that going.”New Jersey is rolling even though reigning Hart Trophy winner Taylor Hall is without a goal through four games — though he does have four assists. Certainly, the Avalanche and their top player, Nathan MacKinnon, will be aware of Hall on the ice.Last year, MacKinnon was runner-up to Hall for the Hart Trophy as the league’s most valuable player. Both players scored 39 goals, and MacKinnon had 97 points to Hall’s 93.MacKinnon picked up this year where he left off. He has seven goals already and established a franchise record with goals in each of the first six games of the season after scoring in the second period of Tuesday’s 3-2 shootout loss to the New York Rangers.“I’d like to get a few more assists actually, but it’s been nice, the puck is going in for me,” MacKinnon told the Avalanche website.Mackinnon’s linemate Adidas Noah Hanifin Jersey , Mikko Rantanen, also has at least one point in each game so far. Rantanen’s eight assists and nine points both are team highs.“You need to have chemistry to be successful, and Mikko and I have lots of chemistry,” MacKinnon said. “He’s a big guy, slows the game down, and I like to speed it up. We complement each other really well.”The Avalanche might receive a boost Thursday as it appears Sven Andrighetto will play in his first game of the season. He suffered a leg injury during the preseason but practiced fully on Wednesday.“He is going to be available for us (Thursday),” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. “I think he looks quick, he is in really good shape. He has done a lot of hard work since he’s been out and I’m excited to have a guy like him available again, adds some skill and some speed to our lineup.”Semyon Varlamov, who was sensational in making 41 saves against the Rangers, will get the night off Thursday and Philipp Grubauer makes his second start of the season in goal.Last season, the Devils won both games with the Avalanche, outscoring them by a combined 6-2. Butcher had three assists in the season series against the team that originally drafted him.