The Caps just finished their morning skate here at Kettler Iceplex before tonight’s 7:30 p.m. Stanley Cup playoff game at Verizon Center vs. the New York Rangers. Everyone on the ice save for injured defenseman Dennis Wideman (hematoma) and left wing Alex Ovechkin, who isn’t a fan of these things anyway during his normal preparation. He’ll be fine for tonight. NHL.com’s Corey Masisak did see Wideman floating through the facility so he is here today. Wideman just got out of the hospital on Monday after at least 11 days recovering from his right leg injury.
Eric Fehr took line rushes in his place with the top unit. Lines looked the same otherwise as they have been all week. Fehr (Ovechkin)-Backstrom-Knuble; Sturm-Arnott-Semin; Laich-Johansson-Chimera; Hendricks-Gordon-Bradley. Scratches in that case would be forwards Fehr, D.J. King and Jay Beagle. Defensemen Tom Poti, Sean Collins and Tyler Sloan were also on for extra work. As expected, Michal Neuvirth was the first goalie off the ice and will start tonight opposite Henrik Lundqvist. Semyon Varlamov took part in the scratches’ skate.
Defenseman Mike Green again said he was ready to play, but hewed closer to the party line that he’s a game-time decision. Still, given who was on the ice late it’s pretty clear he will play for the first time since Feb. 25.
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