Alex Ovechkin played his first game of the preseason for the Washington Capitals, who lost 3-1 to the Boston Bruins at Capital One Arena in Washington on Thursday.

Ovechkin, who was minus-2 in 21:07 of ice time, had been recovering from a lower-body injury that caused him to leave practice a few minutes into the first day of training camp on Sept. 18. The 40-year-old left wing resumed skating last week and was cleared for full contact in practice on Monday.

Brett Harrison scored twice, and Riley Tufte also had a goal for the Bruins (3-1-1). Joonas Korpisalo made 33 saves.

Ryan Leonard scored, and Charlie Lindgren made 24 saves for the Capitals (4-1-0).

Leonard gave Washington a 1-0 lead at 9:42 of the first period, swatting in a rebound in front.

Tufte tied it 1-1 at 16:16 of

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