Little bit of a curveball thrown at us after the Caps beat the Buffalo Sabres 3-1 on Friday night. Rookie Cody Eakin was recalled from AHL Hershey. WFED’s Ben Raby, studio host on the Washington Capitals radio network, caught sight of the 20-year-old forward in the press box a few minutes before the game. Afterwards, reporters saw him lingering in the hallway near the visitor’s hallway sporting a suit. If he was trying to hide from us his shock of red hair hurt his cause. His presence could only mean one thing: Eakin, too, was going on the brief road trip to Columbus. The Caps flew out immediately after the game.
Eakin will temporarily replace defenseman Mike Green on the active roster. Green, now on injured reserve, is still recovering from a right groin injury and – while he was still expected to make the trip – was not likely to play once he got to Columbus. Instead, Green will use the time to take a morning skate with his teammates on Saturday. Green has been out since Nov. 11 so his stay on injured reserve is retroactive to that date. He can be activated at any time. Washington’s roster has been back at a full 23 players since Jay Beagle recently returned from 10 weeks on the shelf with a concussion (Oct. 13).
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Any number of reasons the Caps went in his direction. Maybe a forward is nursing a minor injury and the team doesn’t want to play them in a back-to-back situation. Certainly, forward Mathieu Perreault had a scare last Monday when he impaled himself on his own stick during a game at Buffalo. He went to the hospital for observation after the team’s medical staff became concerned about a possible ruptured spleen. But Perreault was cleared and back at practice the next day. Maybe he’s just not ready to fill in during a game. He’s been a scratch the last two games (New York Rangers, Buffalo). Or Washington may want to give Beagle a break after his first two games back following that long layoff.
Can’t imagine Eakin was recalled just to sit. Plus, he’s scored four goals with an assist in his four games at Hershey since being returned to the AHL on Dec. 18. Eakin had three goals and three assists in 19 NHL games earlier this season with the Caps. We’ll see what they come up with on Saturday.
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