Goalie could be back on ice this weekend
Before leaving for New York to play the Rangers on Tuesday at Madison Square Garden, the Capitals learned on Monday that goalie Semyon Varlamov is closer to returning from a lingering groin injury.
The 22-year-old skated during Monday’s 30-minute practice at Kettler Iceplex and then stayed on the ice for extra work. Afterwards, Washington coach Bruce Boudreau said Varlamov could see some “game situations” as soon as this weekend. That likely would come during a rehabilitation stint at AHL Hershey. Varlamov has started just one game this season and played 46 minutes in another. He was originally hurt during training camp.
The Caps (10-4-0, 20 points), tied for the best record in the Eastern Conference, begin a busy week with four games in six days. Expect Michal Neuvirth back in goal against New York after rookie Braden Holtby made his first NHL start Sunday in the 3-2 overtime win at home vs. Philadelphia.
“It’s important at this time of year that you put distance between yourself and the [teams] behind you,” Boudreau said. “Because there’s going to be rough stretches — whether through injuries or just the ups and downs of a season. … It’s a difficult league to catch up in.”
Defenseman Tom Poti is on the trip to New York, though it isn’t known yet if he’ll actually play. A lower-body injury has kept the veteran out since Oct. 21. Forward Brooks Laich was “probably” going to travel, according to Boudreau. But he missed the entire third period of the Flyers game with an upper-body injury and didn’t practice on Monday at all.
“Believe me — it’s something you don’t want to do every day,” Boudreau said about telling Laich to sit out a practice. “He wants to play. Give him credit. He’ll play on broken bones as he’s done in the past. But he’s not an easy guy to sit out because he wants to play all the time.”
New York (7-6-1, 15 points) is holding things together despite injuries to key forwards Marian Gaborik (shoulder), Chris Drury (broken finger) and Vaclav Prospal (knee). None of them are expected to play against the Caps. But the Rangers have received a nice contribution from center Brandon Dubinsky, who has 10 goals already. That is halfway toward his goal total all of last season. New York has won three of its last five games despite scoring just nine goals during that stretch.
