What are the Caps missing if forward Mike Knuble can’t go tonight in Game 4 against the New York Rangers? Pretty much just have to watch the goal he scored to tie Game 3 late in the third period. That was classic Knuble. He took a shot off the right hand, shook off the pain, went to the front of the net and knocked home a Nicklas Backstrom pass for a clutch score.
“I think that we’ve got to take a page out of his book here tonight,” said defenseman John Carlson. “Everyone else chipping in and doing the things that he does.”
That big body in front of the net – “it seems like he’s always there,” Backstrom said – will be missing on the power play if Knuble can’t go. So how do the Caps adjust on the man-advantage?
“It is a opportunity for someone else. Maybe myself –maybe I move in front from the point,” forward Brooks Laich said. “I don’t know what’s going on yet. That’s usually where the goals are scored and Mike leads the way in that department. He’s also a big factor on the penalty kill and 5-on-5. He really embodies what we want to play and how we want to play around here. We’ll have to step up while Mike’s not in the lineup.”
Added teammate Eric Fehr, who is likely in the lineup tonight thanks to Knuble’s injury: “Gonna try to do what he does. He’s obviously a master of standing in front and getting loose pucks and everything, and I’ve tried to learn from that in the past last couple years, and hopefully the stuff I’ve seen I can use tonight.”
Often when a key player is out several others consciously try to make up the difference over the short term. For one night – even in the playoffs – the Caps can probably get by. But there’s no getting around the fact that this is Mike Knuble’s kind of series. The goals are going to be scored the way he scores them. Losing that toughness would hurt. If he can’t go Washington needs to find a way to get back home with a 3-1 lead and then re-evaluate.
“I think that happens a lot when good players go down,” Carlson said. “Everyone else feels a little bit more pressure to fill in for him. And it seems like they always do a good job. Hopefully that’s the case tonight, too.”
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