Capitals' Protas makes series debut in Game 5
Aliaksei Protas made his series debut Wednesday as the Washington Capitals eliminated the Montreal Canadiens in Game 5.
Protas missed Washington's last six games of the regular season after suffering a lower-body injury April 4. He was cut on the foot with a skate blade and had to be helped off the ice while favoring his left leg.
The Belarusian forward was given a week-to-week recovery timeline. He ranked third on the Capitals with 30 goals in 76 games this campaign.
While Protas spent some time on the shelf, head coach Spencer Carbery wasn't overly concerned about his ability to jump back in.
"It'll have its challenges of getting up to speed - the touches, the pace of the game, the physicality and that," he said Tuesday. "But he hasn't been out for two months, you know? It's been a few weeks.
"When he gets back in, you're hoping ... he can pick up as quickly as possible. Takes him maybe a period, a couple shifts to get acclimated with the pace of play, physicality, the things that are required in playoff hockey."
Carbery added that Protas would provide a "huge boost" to the Capitals' penalty kill. He led Washington with three shorthanded goals in the regular season while averaging 1:35 minutes per game on the club's fifth-ranked PK.
Washington's penalty kill has struggled in this series, allowing five power-play goals on 13 opportunities for a paltry 61.5% success rate prior to Wednesday's game.
Protas started on the fourth line with Brandon Duhaime and Nic Dowd in his return.
He spent the bulk of the season on the top line with Alex Ovechkin and Dylan Strome, but his usual linemates have found chemistry with Anthony Beauvillier so far in the playoffs.
Protas also has experience playing alongside Tom Wilson and Pierre-Luc Dubois, with that unit dictating 60.1% of the expected goals and 56.6% of the shot attempts in nearly 200 minutes at five-on-five in the regular season, per Evolving-Hockey.
Protas recorded two assists in four games against the New York Rangers in the last postseason.