Game 1
Caps vs. Montreal Canadiens • 7 p.m. • TV: CSN • Radio: 106.7 FM
The push for a Stanley Cup begins tonight when the Caps host the Canadiens at Verizon Center. Bruce Boudreau met with the media a few minutes ago during the morning skate at Kettler Iceplex in Arlington. With a huge media contingent on hand — thanks in part to the band of French and English-speaking reporters who trail the Canadiens everywhere they go — Boudreau had a chance to lecture everyone after a few controversial reports surfaced this week. One was Montreal forward Tomas Plekanec‘s comments on Caps goalie Jose Theodore and the other Alex Ovechkin shooting a puck off Theodore’s knee at practice Wednesday when it was really Dave Steckel. Neither was a big deal. But in the playoffs this stuff can get out of control. Consider it Boudreau’s opening salvo in that battle.
“I don’t have a problem answering any questions. But get it right. That’s all I ask you. Yesterday, it wasn’t Ovechkin that hit Theodore that was publicized everywhere. It was Dave Steckel. So don’t guess and make it sound like our best player is getting it. And it’s the same thing when we were talking about Theodore and was talking about him. I was talking about [Martin] Brodeur and [Ryan] Miller that Theo’s record was better in the last 20 games [not Montreal goalies Carey Price and Jaroslav Halak]. So don’t try to create the controversy. If we say the controversy it’s there. But don’t try to create it by making [expletive] up…or stuff up. Okay. That’s all I ask.”
So there’s that. Theodore is in goal, as expected. Nicklas Backstrom looked a little worn out after his illness earlier this week and spending what he said was “two days” in bed. Backstrom added that he was headed home for a nap and looked really, really excited about that prospect. But he will be ready to go tonight. Scratches expected to be Quintin Laing, Brendan Morrison and Scott Walker among the forwards and John Erskine and Tyler Sloan among the defensemen.
