Caps hope injured stars come back for playoffs
There are six games remaining, and neither their Stanley Cup playoff seed nor their opponent is set yet.
But the Capitals are fine with that. They have entered the postseason before as the red-hot underdog and as the reigning Presidents’ Trophy winner. Neither scenario worked out so well. So whatever fate has in store for Washington this spring is fine. All the Caps want is to be healthy when the real games begin in a little more than two weeks.
There are still plenty of questions there, however. Forwards Alex Ovechkin (undisclosed injury) and Jason Arnott (lower-body injury) skated at practice for the first time in two weeks. Both hope to play in a game by the weekend. But there are no guarantees.
| Caps notes |
| » Washington faces the Carolina Hurricanes at Verizon Center on Tuesday at 7 p.m. It is the Caps’ first home game since March 13. |
| » The two teams have met five times this season. Washington has won all five meetings — but four of them by just one goal and one in a shootout. |
| » The Caps are 15-4 overall since Feb. 16. At the time they were six points behind Tampa Bay in the Southeast Division and the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference playoff race. |
“I’m just skating over there and seeing if it bothers me or not,” Ovechkin said. “It’s not bothering me. I think I’m ready to go. … Everybody wants to be 100 percent. Again, right now it’s time to recover best from what happened to you.”
Meanwhile, defenseman Mike Green (concussion) admitted he still has symptoms “here and there” but said he is progressing steadily. There is still no timetable for his return, though Green hopes he can get a game or two in before the playoffs start.
“It’s such a touchy situation these days,” Caps coach Bruce Boudreau said. “We’ll just go with whatever [trainer] Greg [Smith] says, and if it’s slower than you want, then it’s unfortunate. If they say [Green is] ready to go, then he’ll be able to practice.”
Washington (44-22-10, 98 points) already has clinched a playoff spot and is trying to hold off Boston (42-23-10, 94 points) for the No. 2 seed and wrap up the Southeast Division. The Hurricanes (35-30-10, 80 points) have no such luxury. They remain five points behind Buffalo for the final postseason berth in the Eastern Conference. The Caps just completed a 4-2 road trip that included a pair of wins at Montreal and victories at Philadelphia and New Jersey. They lost games at Detroit and Ottawa.
“They played great. Everybody chipped in where they needed to be,” said Arnott, who didn’t rule out playing Tuesday but also described the weekend as a more realistic scenario. “We got great goaltending, and that’s the key. Coming down the stretch you’ve got to play solid defensively, and I think they did a great job at it.”
