The Caps are on their way to New York, where they play the Rangers at Madison Square Garden tomorrow night. Defenseman Tom Poti (lower-body injury) will make the trip while coach Bruce Boudreau said forward Brooks Laich (upper-body injury) “probably” would go, too. Laich didn’t play in the third period of Sunday’s win over Philadelphia and didn’t skate during Monday’s 30-minute practice session.
“Believe me – it’s something you don’t want to do every day,” Boudreau said about actually telling Laich to sit out a practice. “He wants to play. Give him credit. He’ll play on broken bones as he’s done in the past. But he’s not an easy guy to sit out because he wants to play all the time.”
Semyon Varlamov skated at practice again, took shots and even stayed on the ice for some extra work. The 22-year-old goalie could appear in some “game situations” this weekend, Boudreau said. Whether that means in an NHL game – the Caps have four this week – at AHL Hershey or simply in a scrimmage setting he wouldn’t say. My guess is with the Bears, who have a home game on Friday against Toronto and another Sunday against Binghamton. If Varlamov is extra ready – he’s already re-injured himself once this season so caution is the word here – that option makes the most sense.
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