Caps (5-3, 10 points) at Hurricanes (4-3, 8 points)
What » Game #9
Where » RBC Center
When » 7 p.m.
TV » CSN (HD)
Radio » WFED-1500 AM
Road trip! The Caps take a break from Verizon Center with back-to-back games at Carolina and Minnesota and then Calgary on Saturday night. But coach Bruce Boudreau admitted after practice on Tuesday he’s not even begun thinking about the Minnesota game, let alone the Flames. Probably a good move considering at best his team will arrive in Minneapolis around 3 a.m. EST after a late flight out of Raleigh on Wednesday night. That’s one of the more extreme back-to-backs I’ve seen in a while. Best just to beat Carolina and take some pressure off of Thursday’s tilt in St. Paul. Check out our preview in today’s print edition to get a rundown on all the injuries the Caps are dealing with.
Carolina is skewing a bit younger these days. Gone are veterans like Rod Brind’Amour, Ray Whitney and one-time Cap Scott Walker. In their place are five rookies – guys like Jeff Skinner, an 18-year-old who was the Hurricanes’ first-round pick in June, No. 7 overall. He scored his first goal on Oct. 20 in Los Angeles. The last kid that young to score for Carolina? How about Eric Staal in 2003. In the entire NHL only the Islanders’ Nino Nederreiter – who made his own strong first impression on Washington in a game earlier this month – is younger than Skinner. With an average age of 30.35 years last season, the Hurricanes are all the way down to 26.4. They also have a pretty solid group of young centers, led by Staal.
“But we’re young and good up the middle, too,” Boudreau reminded reporters this week. “So that should make it interesting.”
Speaking of Staal, the team captain is still somehow just 25. Okay, he turns 26 on Friday. But he’s already fifth in franchise history in goals scored (196) and just two away from fourth place. And he’s always been a Caps killer with 18 goals and 26 assists (44 points) in 42 career games. Washington held Staal off the scoresheet twice last season. But he also had a two-assist game, a goal and an assist another night and on Dec. 28 at Verizon Center Staal pumped in two goals and three assists in a 6-3 victory.
Meanwhile, rookie goalie Michal Neuvirth is still the man in net with Semyon Varlamov ailing. Braden Holtby is on the trip as the back-up goalie. But it’s possible Neuvirth will start all three games. As he pointed out – travel and heavy workloads aren’t much of an issue for a 22-year-old hardly removed from riding the buses in the American League and in junior. Neuvirth is 5-2 – tied for first in the NHL in wins – with a .919 save percentage and a 2.53 goals-against average.
“It’ll be like trial by fire. We’ll see how he does tomorrow night and then we’ll reassess on Thursday,” Boudreau said. “If you’re asking me to look into a crystal ball I don’t know how he’s going to handle it. And whether he will have to handle it. Maybe we put Braden in on Thursday and then [Neuvirth] has a couple days off to go on Saturday.”
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