"One surprise perhaps of the Capitals' day of battle drills and bag skates was that Mike Green, who has missed the past six games with an injured right ankle, participated fully in the entire hour and a half practice.

He obviously didn't play a role in Washington's substandard effort against the Stars Tuesday night, but the defenseman wanted to be included in all the drills Coach Bruce Boudreau said.

"It's a real positive," Boudreau said of Green taking part. "He did the battle drills, we tried to keep him out of it initially and he said no, he wanted to do it. Went right in and did it and said he is feeling stronger and stronger so that's a real positive sign.""