The Caps have just finished their morning skate here at Kettler Iceplex before tonight’s Game 2 of a first-round Stanley Cup playoff series against the New York Rangers.
Lines at the morning skate were the same as Game 1: Ovechkin-Backstrom-Knuble; Sturm-Arnott-Semin; Laich-Johansson-Chimera; Hendricks-Gordon-Bradley. Sean Collins, Tyler Sloan, D.J. King, Jay Beagle and Eric Fehr all took the scratches’ skate. Michal Neuvirth will start in goal for Washington again. Defenseman Tom Poti (groin) skated during practice after an off day, but didn’t take part in that strenuous scratches’ skate afterwards.
Meanwhile, Caps defenseman Dennis Wideman (right leg hematoma) was back on the ice just four days after leaving the hospital. He only skated for 15 minutes beforehand. But even that is remarkable progress for a player who dealt with the effects of compartment syndrome and was in the hospital for at least 11 days. In fact, Bruce Boudreau admitted his timeline of three weeks for Wideman a few days ago may have been too conservative. He didn’t even rule out a return later in this series – if it lasts that long and the Caps have a need. That still seems unlikely.
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