Team will try to get offense rolling again vs. Bruins
The Boston Bruins took Round 1, but the Washington Capitals will not have to wait long for a rematch.
Two days after suffering its first home loss of the season, Washington gets another crack at the Bruins on Thursday night at TD Garden.
Boston earned a 3-1 victory at Verizon Center on Tuesday, a game in which the Caps missed a half-dozen quality scoring chances early, lost goalie Michal Neuvirth (illness) in the first period and spent far too much time on the penalty kill in the second period. And while the penalty kill continues to excel — Washington is 25-for-25 on the season — the NHL’s best power-play unit last season is struggling at 4-for-26.
Defenseman Mike Green (upper-body injury) was back at practice Wednesday at Kettler Iceplex but said he would not travel with the team to Boston. Forwards Matt Bradley (lower-body injury) and Boyd Gordon (undisclosed) also missed practice.
Meanwhile, Caps coach Bruce Boudreau made a slight tweak of his second and third lines. Tomas Fleischmann was moved to third-line center between wingers Eric Fehr and Jason Chimera. For the first time, rookie Marcus Johansson was at second-line center between Alexander Semin and Brooks Laich.
“Just something to look at, to see the chemistry,” Boudreau said. “We’re not scoring anywhere near the pace that we’re capable of. I think it has to do with we’re not getting a lot of offense from our power play.”
There’s no word on who will start in goal for the Caps. So far, Neuvirth has had the net in every game. But on Tuesday he complained of dizziness and a headache and left late in the first period. Semyon Varlamov replaced him and stopped 14 of 15 shots. Neuvirth made it through practice but hasn’t completely recovered. Varlamov began the year on injured reserve, dressing for the first time as a backup Saturday in Nashville.
One thing is certain: Washington needs more traffic in front of Boston goalie Tim Thomas, who has found his Vezina Trophy form of two years ago after battling injuries last season. He is 3-0 with a 0.67 goals-against average and a .979 save percentage. Thomas ranks second in the league in both categories.
“We would have liked to have had that first one at home,” Laich said. “Now we have to go up there and take one. But they did a good job [Tuesday] night. … They played a solid, smart road game. We have to do the same.”
