Caps (33-20-10, 76 points) vs. Islanders (23-32-8, 54 points)
What » Game #64
When » 7 p.m.
Where » Verizon Center
TV » CSN HD
Radio » WFED-1500 AM
Bruce Boudreau was like a kid at Christmas. So much so he couldn’t actually sleep on Monday night as he devised line combinations and defensive pairings to go with his team’s three new players – forwards Jason Arnott and Marco Sturm and defenseman Dennis Wideman.
Tonight will mark their first game with Washington. Arnott and Sturm will likely be on the second line with Alex Semin. Sturm was on that line during practice on Monday. Wideman gets paired with Scott Hannan because, Boudreau said, the staff liked the idea of its most talkative defenseman helping a guy in his first game with the team. But he’s not consumed with worry about anyone picking up his system quickly, either.
“It’s not like we got three 20-year-olds that need a lot of schooling,” Boudreau said. “These guys are experienced veterans that have played the game for a long time so they should be fine.”
Everyone was out for the morning skate save Alex Ovechkin – not a fan of them anyway – and Jay Beagle, who is nursing an upper-body injury, according to Boudreau. Semyon Varlamov came off the ice early and is still not ready to serve even as Michal Neuvirth’s back-up. Instead, Todd Ford was again recalled from AHL Hershey. Varlamov is still listed as day-to-day.
Boudreau is going to get all three new players time on the power play. Maybe that will inject some more life into a team that is now 25th in the league in power-play percentage (16.3%). Washington had scored a power-play goal in three straight games on its recent five-game road trip, but is 0-for-7 in its last two contests.
The Caps just saw the Islanders on Long Island last Saturday – a 3-2 victory, but a game Washington trailed at one point 2-0. So it’s unlikely they’re just mentally banking these two points. Can’t really afford to anyway if they want to keep the gap close with Southeast Division-leading Tampa Bay, which is five points up with a game in hand. The Caps have just 18 games left after this one so time is growing short.
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