PITTSBURGH – An intriguing morning skate here at Mellon Arena. Forward Alexander Semin did not participate and there was no official word on if he is okay to play tonight — although, for what it’s worth, teammate Alex Ovechkin said Semin would be ready.
One thing for sure – Jay Beagle has been recalled from Hershey and said that he will play right wing on the fourth line with Boyd Gordon and Tomas Fleischmann.
Also, defenseman John Erskine participated in the skate, but came off early and labeled himself “questionable” for tonight. Tyler Sloan is still with the team. Karl Alzner is back with AHL Hershey.
Meanwhile, Ovie briefly fielded questions on the Pennsylvania State Police investigation into death threats made against him on an Internet message board earlier this week. He clearly didn’t want to dwell on the issue.
“Well it was an emotion thing. Actually, I don’t want to talk about it,” Ovechkin said. He then elaborated when asked if he feels safe. “Always safe. It doesn’t matter what happened. You never know. Of course I care, but if it happens it happens … I understand. He’s a big [Penguins] fan and he was just trying to get me a little afraid.”
Beagle’s presence adds some toughness back to a line that had Nylander — a true center — playing wing in Wednesday’s 3-2 overtime loss.
“That’s my game. To add a little bit of grit, be physical out there and finish the body and put a pretty good forecheck on,” said Beagle.
Beagle hesitated when asked if it was hard to leave his teammates at Hershey in the middle of their own playoff series against Pittsburgh affiliate Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Then he smiled.
“It’s not hard,” Beagle said. “But it isn’t easy either. It’s kind of a weird feeling to step from one series into another.”
Both playoff series are in the exact same spot. Hershey won the first two games at home – just like the Caps — and then lost in overtime on the road. Game 4 of that series is tonight at 7:05.
