Washington Capitals (41-32-8) at New York Rangers (51-23-7)
Location: Madison Square Garden
Time: 6:30 PM
TV: NBC Sports Network (HD)
Radio: 1500AM, 820 AM, and XM
Previous Games:
Nov 25, 2011 NYR@WSH, 3-6 L
Dec 28, 2011 NYR@WSH, 4-1 W
Feb 12, 2012 WSH@NYR, 2-3 L
Familiar Faces of Former Capitals: D Steve Eminger (212 GP, 2002-08)
Former Ranger: Mike Knuble (141 GP, 1998-2000)
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The Washington Capitals were on ice Friday for a practice following clinching a playoff berth during their game against the Panthers Thursday night. Some updates from Kettler Capitals Iceplex as the Caps prepare for Saturday's game at Madison Square Garden:
Michal Neuvirth, who suffered a lower body injury in the second period of Thursday's win, was not on the ice for practice. According to Brian McNally of the Washington Examiner, who cited a league source, Neuvirth will have an MRI on Friday afternoon, at which time more will be known about his status for the playoffs. As a result of his injury, PR director Sergey Kocharov served as the Caps' second goalie along with Braden Holtby. Dale Hunter also provided an update on Tomas Vokoun, noting that he is still day to day and will not try skating for the forseeable future.
Troy Brouwer also missed his second consecutive practice with what was termed a "maintenance day," but it is obvious at this point that he is nursing an injury. Mike Green was also absent because of an illness. For now, both players are expected to play in New York Saturday. The lines were as follows: Ovechkin-Backstrom-Johansson, Chimera-Perreault-Semin, Hendricks-Laich-Beagle, Aucoin-Halpern-Knuble, and Ward-Eakin.
That's all for now. As always, follow me on Twitter here for news and updates.
Information from Steve Whyno was used in this post.
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The Washington Capitals clinched their fifth consecutive playoff berth on Thursday night, defeating the Florida Panthers 4-2 inside Verizon Center. Jay Beagle, Alex Ovechkin, Brooks Laich, and Alexander Semin scored for the hosts, who were able to clinch their playoff berth because of the Sabres’ regulation loss in Philadelphia. Washington was able to overcome an injury to Michal Neuvirth, as Braden Holtby made 12 saves on 14 shots for the win. The Capitals can also clinch the Southeast Division for the fifth consecutive year with a win and a Panthers regulation loss on Saturday.
Florida started the game well, earning the majority of the scoring chances early by creating turnovers off their backcheck and not allowing the Capitals to get much possession. Despite that fact, it was Washington who scored first, getting the 1-0 lead when Jay Beagle roofed it in front following a Troy Brouwer shot after 5:42. The Panthers came hard after that goal, responding well and controlling long stretches of play themselves, earning long portions of possession in the attacking zone. Despite this fact, they were not able to draw even as the midway mark of the period passed, and then took a penalty to give the Caps a power play with 9:51 left in the frame.
But the Capitals could not convert on their first man advantage of the game, failing to even get many chances against, and once again it was the Panthers that began to take control following the power play. Florida was then given a power play of their own when Matt Hendricks knocked down Jose Theodore in front, but the DC penalty kill unit was able to kill of their first test of the night with ease. Despite another late flurry by the visitors, they were not able to draw even before the end of the first.
no commentsWashington Capitals (40-32-8) vs. Florida Panthers (37-25-18)
Location: Verizon Center
Time: 7:00 PM
TV: Comcast SportsNet (HD) (Game On!), NHL Network
Radio: 1500AM, 820 AM, and XM
Previous Games:
Oct 18, 2011 FLA@WSH, 3-0 W
Dec 5, 2011 WSH@FLA, 4-5 L
Feb 1, 2012 WSH@FLA, 2-4 L
Feb 7, 2012 FLA@WSH, 4-0 W
Feb 17, 2012 WSH@FLA, 2-1 W
Familiar Faces of Former Capitals: G Jose Theodore (104 GP, 2008-10), RW Matt Bradley (427 GP, 2005-11), LW Tomas Fleischmann (283 GP, 2005-10), LW Marco Sturm (18 GP, 2010)
Former Panthers: Dennis Wideman (61 GP, 2010-11), Tomas Vokoun (244 GP, 2007-11)
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Photo from Panthers.com
The Washington Capitals were on ice Wednesday for a practice as they prepare for a critical matchup with the Florida Panthers on Thursday night at Verizon Center. Some updates from Kettler Capitals Iceplex:
Troy Brouwer was absent from practice because of a maintenance day, but is expected to play Thursday for now. Brouwer has been taking a beating of late, and this seems like an actual maintenance day. With his absence, the lines were as follows: Ovechkin-Backstrom-Johansson, Chimera-Perreault-Semin, Hendricks-Laich-Beagle, Aucoin-Halpern-Knuble, and Ward-Eakin.
Also of note, John Erskine, who is suffering from a lower body injury, returned to the ice after missing about a week of practice. Erskine is on injured reserve and I think it's safe to say he won't play in a game the rest of the regular season.
In a shocking turn of events, Dale Hunter also actually revealed his starting goaltender for Thursday's game as Michal Neuvirth, saying it's "Michal's show."
That's all for now. As always, follow me on Twitter here for news and updates.
Information from Sky Kerstein was used in this post.
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For the Washington Capitals, Monday’s game was a microcosm of their season under Dale Hunter.
The Capitals played the first half of the game conservatively and sloppily, failing to get any sort of sustained offensive momentum and allowing the speedy and skilled Tampa forwards to impose their will. It wasn’t a case of waiting back, it was a case of being controlled by a better forward corps.
But after somehow managing to score the game’s first goal on an Alexander Semin slap shot that would have broken the glass should it missed the net, the Capitals immediately reverted back to their passive defensive system, and they immediately paid for it.
After Dmitry Orlov took an ill-advised penalty four minutes after the goal, Teddy Purcell one-timed one past Michal Neuvirth from the faceoff circle, a goal that Neuvirth would certainly like back. Victor Hedman scored 25 seconds later, as his long wrist shot somehow found a way through the maze of bodies in front of Neuvirth’s net. And just like that, what was a promising lead was gone.
Clearly sensing their desperate situation once the third period began, Washington came out hard and got several excellent chances, including a rang post, but Dwayne Roloson, who was lit up for six goals in his previous start, held the fort with some highlight-reel saves.
Finally, though, Jason Chimera came up big, like he has so many times this season, with a backhanded tally that gave the Washington bench energy. It certainly looked and felt like the Capitals were going to be able to ride out a critical win, or at least a point.
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Regardless of how this season ends for the Washington Capitals, this off-season is going to be a very interesting one. For the first time in several years, the Caps have a large number of their key, big name players becoming free agents of both the restricted and unrestricted variety.
Among those is winger Alexander Semin, who has spent his entire NHL career with the Capitals and will, barring a contract extension, become an unrestricted free agent on July 1. Semin is a player who has faced a lot of criticism over the last three seasons, some of it undeserved, some of it not. He doesn’t score enough. He doesn’t play defense. He’s not versatile or consistent. He “doesn’t care.”
But the bottom line is that Semin is a player who does make the Capitals better. He has been steady, if unspectacular, for the last 40 games he has played this season in terms of point production. He has the second highest even-strength Corsi rating among Capitals forwards who have played more than 40 games at 5.73, and he is one of only three Capitals forwards that has played 40 or more games to have a Corsi rating above zero at even strength. In other words, he helps to possess the puck for the Capitals even when he’s not scoring.
Nevertheless, this is not, sadly, a post that is going to rattle off Semin’s valuable contributions to this Capitals team. For that, read this piece by Neil Greenberg of the Washington Post.
In that post, Greenberg suggests that he would sign Semin this off-season for two years at $6 million per season. As I noted above, I agree fully that Semin is a valuable player, and his contributions on both sides of the puck cannot be ignored. However, for a salary capped team with a lot of its space tied up in one player, Alex Ovechkin, is Semin really worth $6 million per year, especially because the Capitals have such a desperate and apparent need for a second premier center?
I don’t believe he is.
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