-In case you missed it, please check out my Washington Capitals Quarter-Season Review.
Carlson Makes his NHL Debut – Varlamov to Start
The Capitals will welcome the Montreal Canadiens to the Verizon Center tonight at 7pm. This will be the first of 2 games in 8 days between these teams as the Capitals will pay the Canadiens a visit next Saturday.
Washington enters tonight’s game in 1st place in the Eastern Conference while the Canadiens currently sit mired in the bubble groups with 20 points in 21 games. Although they sit in 12th place at the moment, the Habs are only 5 points out of 1st place in the Northeast division, so they must not be counted out.
Montreal has been one of the most heavily criticized teams this season, and with good reason. The summer overhaul by Bob Gainey, the switch in ownership and the makeover of the coaching staff are clearly the largest wholesale changes in the entire league. It’s difficult to expect instant success when cooking without a recipe and that is exactly what it seems like Gainey has done. A little bit of this, a little bit of that, et voila! An expansion team!
I mean no disrespect to the Capitals opponents this evening as the Canadiens do boast some considerable weaponery, but without the services of Brian Gionta and Andrei Markov, the Habs are no better than a first year team trying to find its place in a new league.
Now, obviously the Canadiens are not an expansion team, but the point behind the assessment is that, if there is any team in the NHL that will be the hardest to read, it will be the Montreal Canadiens.
No one can really predict where they will finish because no one can truly gauge the chemistry of the team. It’s hard to focus on specific players when you don’t know who the most dangerous threat is.
And this in direct contrast to the Capitals.
Washington has a buffet of dangerous scoring weapons and everyone knows it.
The Habs are supposed to be led by Cammalleri and Gomez, but at the moment are clearly being pulled along by Tomas Plekanec and some serious goaltending from Carey Price.
People can criticize Montreal all they want, but I will shy away from it.
I say they are an expansion team for the simple fact that with so many new faces in and around the team, it’s hard not to think of the Habs as the new kids on the block.
That said, they are in need of their respect or the Capitals will get their just dues.
The Capitals are without top guns Mike Knuble and Alex Semin as well as defensive studs Quintin Laing and Boyd Gordon. In their place, expect to see Tyler Sloan move up to forward while Flash should see time on the top unit and expect Fehr to skate on the 2nd line with Laich and Morrison. Jay Beagle and Mathieu Perreault will be the Caps wildcards tonight as they will likely skate together on the 3rd line with captain Chris Clark.
Jose Theodore will not suit up for the Capitals tonight as the team has recalled Michal Neuvrith and will likely insert him as the backup behind Semyon Varlamov tonight.
Varly made his NHL debut against the Habs last season and played an extremely strong game, so expect more of the same tonight as Semyon enters the game with a 8-1 record this season.
John Carlson makes his NHL debut and I could not be more excited for the 19 year old former London Knight. Carlson is an incredibly dynamic defender who can put up serious points. He is still young, but has already impressed everyone by putting up 14 points with the Bears and a commanding +14. John will skate in his NHL debut alongside Tom Poti and will be given every opportunity to succeed. He has a booming shot and quick feet. His addition to the Capitals blue line makes them a much stronger team.
Game Notes
Welcome to the show – Defenseman John Carlson is expected to make his NHL debut tonight against the Montreal Canadiens. Carlson will be the 10th Capitals drafted player to suit up for Washington this season – Mathieu Perreault became the ninth player after making his NHL debut on Nov. 4 at New Jersey. Carlson was drafted in the first round, 27th overall, in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft. At 19 years old Carlson will be the Caps youngest player to make his NHL debut since Alexander Semin made his debut in 2003-04 season. The Natick, Mass. native has 10 points (one goal, nine assists) and is a +14 in 17 games for the Hershey Bears this season. Last season the Capitals had six players make their NHL debut – Karl Alzner, Jay Beagle, Sean Collins, Andrew Gordon, Oskar Osala and Tyler Sloan.
Balanced attack –Washington and San Jose are the only teams in the league with more than two players with at least 20 points; they each have four (Ovechkin, Backstrom, Laich and Green are Washington’s). Entering Thursday’s games 12 teams don’t have a single 20-point scorer.
Home run –Washington has won three home games in a row and is 6-0-3 in its last nine at Verizon Center. Its 7-1-3 home record on the year is tied with Philadelphia for the best in the Eastern Conference. The Capitals are 57-18-9 at home under head coach Bruce Boudreau (.732). Washington has just four home games in the next 33 days.
Flash flood –Tomas Fleischmann’s nine-game point-scoring streak is tied for the fourth-longest in the NHL this season; only Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom have had longer streaks for the Capitals since the 2004-05 work stoppage. Fleischmann ranks first in the league in shooting percentage (33.3%) and fifth in goals per game (0.70) and already has seven goals and 11 points despite missing more than half the season recovering from a blood clot in his leg.
Happy return –Alex Ovechkin scored just 15:16 into his return from injury Tuesday night and –despite missing six games and 15 days –still holds a share of the NHL lead in goals with 15. Ovechkin also leads in shots (87) and ranks tied for fourth in points (a team-high 24). Ovechkin has scored in four of the last five games he has played, the lone exception coming in the game when he was hurt.
Powerful stuff –The Capitals have scored a power-play goal in 10 of their last 11 games and are 14-for-38 (36.8%) in that time. They are 8-for-17 in the last six games (47.1%) with at least one PPG in each of those games.
Hitting 100 –Head coach Bruce Boudreau is the fourth-fastest NHL coach to reach 100 wins in his career and the fastest among coaches who made their debuts during the season. Boudreau won No. 100 in his 164th game (100-45-19), and did it after inheriting a team that had 70 points the year before he arrived. The coaches who reached 100 wins faster inherited teams that posted 99 points (Tom Johnson, 138 games), 98 points (Mike Keenan, 152 games) and 95 points (Terry Crisp, 158 games).
Lineups
Washington Capitals
Ovechkin-Backstrom-Fleischmann
Laich-Morrison-Fehr
Beagle-Perreault-Clark
Sloan-Steckel-Bradley
- With Semin, Knuble, Laing and Gordon out, expectations for Eric Fehr, Tomas Fleischmann and Mathieu Perreault will rise.
- I am completely uncertain what line combinations that Boudreau will use tonight against the Canadiens, but if I had to guess, Flash will be on the top line and Fehr will skate on the 2nd.
Green-Schultz
Poti-Carlson
Pothier-Erskine
- Jurcina and Morrisonn are nursing minor injuries and won’t make it into the lineup tonight.
- John Carlson will make his NHL debut as a 19 year old versus the Canadiens, Semyon Varlamov did the same thing last year, so hopefully the Russian netminder has some good advice for the first round pick.
*Varlamov
Neuvrith
- Varly will get the start and Neuvo will back him up.
- Theo has been practicing with the team all week, but since Neuvrith was called up, the Caps are going to at least give him a chance to backup Varly. It is uncertain as to whether or not Jose will be good to rejoin the lineup tomorrow. If he is not, then expect Neuvrith to get the nod.
Montreal Canadiens
Cammalleri-Gomez-Moen
Kostitsyn-Plekanec-Pacioretty
Latendresse-Lapierre-Pyatt
White-Metropolit-Laraque
- According to
habsinside.out, Travis Moen will be skating on the 1st line tonight while Georges Laraque will be patrolling the 4th.
- The Habs have also been decimated by injuries, perhaps as bad as anyone else in the NHL this season, having now lost Brian Gionta for an undetermined amount of time thanks to a broken foot.
Hamrlik-Spacek
Mara-Gorges
O’Byrne-Bergeron
- Things get a little better for the Habs tonight as they will get a boost from the return of Ryan O’Byrne.
- Of course, Andrei Markov, the Canadiens best player, remains out recovering from surgery to repair a sliced tendon.
*Price
Halak
- Carey Price seems likely to get the nod versus the Caps tonight. Price has been phenomenal over the last little stretch, so if the Canadiens expect to get the better of the Capitals tonight, it will likely be because of their goaltender.
For the Habs perspective on tonight’s game, I highly suggest you check out
Eric Engels’ coverage.
I will be back with more as I get it.
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Go Caps!!!!!
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