Capitals vs. Islanders Preview

The Washington Capitals faceoff against one of the worst teams in NHL tonight, the New York Islanders. They only have 14 wins all season and currently lost their star goaltender, Dwayne Roloson, to the Tampa Bay lightning a few weeks ago. However the Caps will have to keep an eye on 2^nd year player John Tavares who leads the Islanders with 18 goals this season.

The Caps are sitting at 5^th place in the Eastern Conference with injuries putting a burden in their lineup each week. Most recently both of the Capital’s net-minders are nursing lower-body injuries. Michal Neuvirth left the game vs. the Flyers after the first period because of his injury. Semyon Varlamov played the following two periods, and it was reported after the game that his lower-body was also bothering him.

Both goaltenders are listed as day to day, so the Caps recalled goalie Braden Hotlby from the Hershey Bears to travel with them to Long Island. Holtby has played 5 games for the Capitals this season winning his first two, but had trouble keeping the puck out of the net in his last three. The young goalie has been playing very well at Hershey in the AHL, so if he does get the start hopefully he performs well.

Unfortunately the Caps’ scoring woes continue each night only scoring 7 goals in their last 4 games. They have scored six of the 7 goals in the third period, and zero in the first. Playing a team like the Islanders gives the Caps a perfect opportunity to open the flood gates, and drop a seven or eight spot on this team.

If Washington beats the Islanders and the Lightning lose to Atlanta tomorrow, the Caps will have the lead of the Southeast division. I would like to see the Capitals play a 60 minutes game tonight, and maybe, just maybe they will score a goal in the first period. Let’s start a winning streak in Long Island Caps’ fans. Puck drops at 7 and as always Rock the Red!!!!!

Injury Report

·         Michal Neuvirth- day to day (lower body)

·         Tom Poti- day to day (undisclosed)

·         Alexander Semin- day to day (lower body)

·         Matt Bradley- 1 to 2 weeks (broken finger)

·         Eric Fehr- 3 to 4 weeks (upper body)