The Caps will take on the only team standing between them and first place tonight. Philly has only won four of their last ten games, while the Caps have won nine of their last ten. The Flyers haven won the last two contests of the season leading the series 2-1, with this being the last meeting.
Despite the Capitals winning nine of their last ten, injuries have flared up in Washington the past few weeks. Nicklas Backstrom recently missed five games but has returned from his finger injury. Jason Arnott was announced to be out week to week with an undisclosed injury last week. He isn't expected to return until April. Mike Green is still on LTIR and can return March 25th at the soonest, but it doesn’t look like he will be that lucky. Continuing the list defenseman Tom Poti has missed most of the year and there is no timetable for his return. Eric Fehr was out nearly two months with an upper body injury, returned back to the lineup and is now hurt again. He and John Erskine who is out with an illness are both questionable for tonight's game in Philadelphia.
Last but not least on the injury list is the Cap's captain and leader Alexander Ovechkin. It was stated yesterday that Ovi would be out 7-10 days with an undisclosed ailment. Bruce Boudreau claimed that it was not a serious injury and that they were just trying to rest him for the playoffs. However he was asked if this was a playoff game would he play. Bruce responded probably not. I am not worried, but not having #8 in the lineup is never a good feeling. Hopefully he will return before the playoffs, so he doesn't come in cold turkey.
Let's pray that Ovi will be fine and that all of these injuries cleanup before the playoffs begin. On the plus side the Capitals are playing great hockey missing a lot their of pieces to the puzzle. It will be a sight to see when everyone suits up for game one of the playoffs with hopefully everyone in good health. Keep the faith Caps fans and as always Rock the Red!
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