I keep clicking on this thread hoping there is a news update that he's playing.
I really don't understand how he could be ready for Game 2 or 3 or Round 2, but not right now.
I still think he's either ready Game 1 or not at all. Am I supposed to believe that after 6 months of being out, the four day difference between Game 1 and Game 3 is going to make a difference in his health? I don't.
I think it's a game to keep info away from the Caps and that he's either been ready for a while now and they are waiting for salary cap purposes to deploy him, or, in the alternative, they really have no idea how ready he is, and skating with the team was very preliminary and his health is still very much in question, in which case I don't see why they should rush him back for the playoffs at all.
But the fact that he was in a full contact jersey tells me he is all-systems-go.