At some point in Wednesday night’s game against the Montreal Canadiens, the Capitals will have a decision to make. Do they go after forward Rene Bourque, whose elbow to the jaw of Nicklas Backstrom on Jan. 3 knocked Washington’s top center from the lineup for two weeks…and counting. Or, do they let it go? This is a team that can’t exactly afford to give Montreal an extra power play when it’s already so difficult for it to win away from home.
“It’s one of those things where it kind of sucks because we’re not able to play them again this year,” Caps forward Troy Brouwer said of Bourque on Jan. 4.
Well, that wasn’t supposed to happen. Bourque at the time played for the Calgary Flames, who weren’t on Washington’s schedule again this season. But the Canadiens are – four more times. And that’s where Bourque was traded on Jan. 12. He has served his five-game suspension for the elbow on Backstrom. But his greatest punishment could come tonight at Bell Centre.
“I obviously don’t feel good about what I did and I apologized for it,” Bourque told the Canadiens’ official website. “But I’m sure they’ll be a few guys probably coming after me. It’s part of the game and I just need to be prepared for it….I know guys will be looking to make sure they finish their checks against me.”
Indeed. Earlier this season, defenseman John Erskine needed just 5 minutes, 27 seconds of Washington’s second game of the year against the Pittsburgh Penguins to deliver some retribution for teammate Jay Beagle. Erskine fought Penguins forward Arron Asham, who admittedly went over the top with his theatrics after dropping Beagle to the ice during a fight Oct. 13 in Pittsburgh. Beagle suffered a concussion and was briefly knocked out. But the Caps can’t go nuts here.
“You do have to be careful,” defenseman Karl Alzner said. “I think that’s kind of what happened when we played Tampa [on Friday] night. Because they tried to come out hitting and trying to send a message to us and it backfired on them a little bit. So we got to be smart, but we need to have that effort. We need to have a smart, controlled effort that we didn’t have tonight.”
Erskine has been a healthy scratch six of the last eight games and four in a row. If you see him in the lineup I think it’s pretty obvious what’s going to happen. If not? Well, Matt Hendricks would be the most likely candidate to take care of business. Bourque is a big man at 6-foot-2, 213 pounds. Hendricks is 6-foot, 211. Erskine is 6-4, 220. Either one works. But Hendricks shook off that line of questioning after Tuesday’s 3-0 loss to the New York Islanders.
“I don’t know. I don’t get involved in this stuff,” Hendricks said.
Last I checked Hendricks led Washington with seven majors – all for fighting. So, yes, he does get involved in that stuff. Just not through the media. Doubt coach Dale Hunter will even touch the issue during his pregame chat with reporters on Wednesday. But his players? It’s a lock Bourque is a pregame topic of conversation – all protestations aside.
“It seems like an apology is never enough. That’s what it seems like,” Alzner said. “But there hasn’t been much talk about it. At least not that I’ve heard. So I don’t really know what’s going on. Just have to play him hard. I think the best way to get back at somebody is just by hitting him, by outplaying him and try to beat him, score as many goals as you can. That’s my personal philosophy, but not everybody’s.”
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