The Washington Capitals got a key piece of their roster back this week when Aliaksei Protas returned for Game 5 against the Montreal Canadiens. After suffering a skate cut to his left foot in early April, Protas missed the final six games of the regular season and the first four games of the playoffs before coming back on Wednesday night.
Protas spoke Friday in his first media scrum since the injury, confirming that damage to one of the tendons in his foot was the biggest factor prolonging his absence from the lineup.
“There’s some steps you’ve got to be careful with, especially the tendon and everything,” he said. “You’ve got to be careful. You needed to take a couple more days and needed at least a couple weeks to at least get to the point where the risk is low, and from there it’s going to get better. But you’ve got to be careful.”
When he first went down, leaving in the third period against the Chicago Blackhawks on April 4, Protas hoped he’d be able to come back relatively quickly, but he later learned both the severity of the cut and that returning too soon could make it even worse.
“They told me next morning what was going on and how much time. As soon as you progressed, I was trying to get as early as possible, but needed also to be careful — it could get more serious. So had to be careful…I think when it happened, when the adrenaline was going on, I didn’t really feel it, but next morning I realized it was going to be more serious than expected.”
Protas had a breakout 2024-25 campaign, becoming one of the Capitals’ best players in the regular season. He ranked third on the team with 66 points (30g, 36a) in 76 games without spending significant time on the power play, and had the eighth-most even-strength points in the NHL (60) before the skate cut.
Even setting aside the risk of re-injury, Protas said he didn’t want to return until he could perform at a high level.
“I wanted a couple more days to be ready and get back,” he said. “I wanted to be, not like 100 percent, but I wanted to make sure I can give my best out there.”
By the time he was able to play, Protas hadn’t suited up for an NHL game in more than three weeks. The transition back wasn’t seamless, with Protas remarking his “legs were a little heavy,” but he felt he improved as the game went on.
“Just started simple. Started (with) short shifts, just trying to get up to this tempo because when I was watching from the stands, it looked so fast, everything, so I needed to get used to it,” he said. “And after first period, I got way better.”
Protas played 16:48 in Game 5, ranking fourth among Capitals forwards. He skated on the team’s fourth line, joining Nic Dowd and Brandon Duhaime, and returned to the penalty kill.
Head coach Spencer Carbery was pleased with how Protas performed in his first game back, though he noted that he wasn’t quite back to his pre-injury form. He attributed that to the amount of time off and not lingering issues with the skate cut.
“Overall performance-wise, I thought he was good,” Carbery said. “I thought his pace looked good. His puck touches, for the most part, were good. I thought he gave some good shifts on the penalty kill.
“There was a little bit of rust, but I’d say more related that he’d just missed a bunch of time and getting plugged right into a competitive playoff series. I was happy with the way that he played.”
Though the Capitals had initially hoped to get Protas back earlier in the series against Montreal, the timing of his return could offer a less intense adjustment period. Washington had a comfortable 3-1 series lead going into Game 5 and will now have several days off before facing the Carolina Hurricanes in the second round, giving Protas time to get used to playing before any do-or-die games.
Carbery expects Protas to be even more of a factor against Carolina as he shakes the rust off from his prolonged absence. He argued that, beyond just the chance to get used to playing again, the team’s Game 5 win could give Protas a mental boost.
”Him getting that game under his belt, coming back into a series-clinching game, us having success and winning the game, I think that’ll give him some confidence,” he said. “As we move along here in the Carolina series, I think his game and (his) role will become more impactful and more significant.”
Protas acknowledged that even after making improvements on Wednesday, he still hasn’t quite felt like his old self yet. But even if he’s not quite back to normal yet, Protas believes he can still contribute as the Caps look ahead to the second round.
“I hope it’s not going to take lots of time, but I’ll do my best to help the team right now,” he said. “Just work hard every day, and hopefully it’s going to get even better, and we’ll continue to get better as a team during the series and during the playoffs.”
