The Capitals haven’t played in four months due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Frank Franklin II / AP

The Washington Capitals have announced plans to continue the 2019-2020 season, beginning with training camp on Monday and resuming play next month.

The team will take on the Tampa Bay Lightning on August 3, as part of the Stanley Cup qualifiers schedule released Friday.

The 2018 Stanley Cup-winning team will begin Phase Three of the NHL’s “Return to Play Plan”with practices from July 13-25, and the team will head to Toronto on July 26.

The 24 returning teams returning to play starting Aug. 1 — considered part of the 2020 postseason — will head to “hub cities” Toronto and Edmonton, where they will live in closed-off environments and play with no fans, the NHL said. The Caps’ roster will be broken up into two squads (Teams Blue and Red) and their schedules will vary, the team said in a release.

After four months with no hockey due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the NHL and NHL Player’s Association came to an agreement for the returning protocols, as well as a four-year extension to the collective bargaining agreement. Players can opt-out of the return-to-play plan without discipline or penalty, the league says, but they must alert their teams within 72 hours.

The league plans to kick off the playoffs on August 11. The conference finals are scheduled to begin September 8, followed by the finals on September 22, with the goal of having a Stanley Cup champion by Oct. 4.

The Washington Capital’s postseason schedule, as of Saturday, July 11:

  • August 3 vs the Tampa Bay Lightning
  • August 6 vs the Philadelphia Flyers
  • August 7 vs the Boston Bruins
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