Capitals Insider: January 10, 2010 - January 16, 2010
Chimera won't face suspension
A few updates from this morning's practice at KCI: *Although Jason Chimera received an instigator penalty in the final five minutes of last night's 6-1 win over Toronto, the league rescinded the automatic one game suspension this morning. Chimera avoided discipline because "this was not a message sending incident," I'm...
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Tarik El-Bashir
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January 16, 2010; 1:06 PM ET |
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Caps 6, Leafs 1
Alex Ovechkin will get all of the headlines for his performance tonight, and rightfully so. But there was another forward who had an eye-opening effort: Mike Knuble, who is starting to look like the reliable, consistent, net-crashing winger the Caps signed in July to complement Ovechkin on the top...
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Tarik El-Bashir
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January 16, 2010; 12:00 AM ET |
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Tonight's lineup: Leafs at Caps
Jose Theodore will start tonight at Verizon Center as the Caps open a three-game homestand against Toronto. Vesa Toskala, meantime, will be in net for the 28th place Maple Leafs. Based on the warmup, tonight's lineup should look like this: Forwards Ovechkin-Backstrom-Knuble Laich-Fleischmann-Semin Chimera-Morrison-Fehr Gordon-Steckel-Bradley Defense Schultz-Green Sloan-Poti Morrisonn-Carlson Goalies...
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Tarik El-Bashir
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January 15, 2010; 6:44 PM ET |
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Caps recall John Carlson (updated)
Rookie John Carlson, who led the United States to a gold medal in the world junior championships earlier this month, has been recalled from Hershey this afternoon. He's on the ice for warmups and could play tonight against the Leafs. Carlson did not skate this morning at KCI, so it...
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Tarik El-Bashir
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January 15, 2010; 6:31 PM ET |
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Semin to suit up
Alexander Semin will suit up for tonight's game against the Maple Leafs, according to GM George McPhee. Semin had his sore right wrist examined by a specialist earlier today, which is why he missed the morning skate, and there was some concern that the winger wouldn't be back in time...
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Tarik El-Bashir
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January 15, 2010; 6:02 PM ET |
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Semin a 'maybe' for tonight's game
Alexander Semin, who has been dogged by a right wrist injury for much of season, still might be able to play tonight, according to Coach Bruce Boudreau. The winger did not take the pregame skate this morning. "Maybe," is all Boudreau would say when asked if Semin would be in...
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Tarik El-Bashir
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January 15, 2010; 5:10 PM ET |
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Theodore to start, Semin might be sidelined
Coach Bruce Boudreau said he plans to tap Jose Theodore to start tonight against the Maple Leafs as a reward for the veteran's impressive performance in relief of Michal Neuvirth on Wednesday night. The rest of the Caps' lineup, though, is unclear because of Alexander Semin's undisclosed injury. If the...
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Tarik El-Bashir
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January 15, 2010; 12:04 PM ET |
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Tags: Alexander Semin, Jeff Schultz, Jose Theodore, Michal Neuvirth, Mike Green, Semyon Varlamov, Toronto Maple Leafs
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Semin's status for tonight's game is unclear
Alexander Semin did not skate this morning and his status for tonight's game is uncertain. Semin finished Wednesday's 5-4 shootout victory in Sunrise, Fla., but he's apparently nursing an injury. He's been battling a sore right wrist all season. Asked if Semin is injured, Coach Bruce Boudreau said: "Maybe. ...I...
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Tarik El-Bashir
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January 15, 2010; 11:11 AM ET |
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Morning roundup: Goalies, Leafs and a Capstronaut
In case you missed it yesterday, Gene Wang chatted with Bruce Boudreau about injured goaltender Semyon Varlamov, whom the coach said is "getting better" every day after suffering a sprained right knee (MCL) Jan. 3. Asked about the recent shaky play of backup Michal Neuvirth, Boudreau said the 21-year-old...
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Lindsay Applebaum
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January 15, 2010; 5:33 AM ET |
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Bruce Boudreau on Semyon Varlamov: 'Every day it's getting better'
(Jonathan Newton/The Washington Post) Here's a quick update from Post reporter Gene Wang, who got Coach Bruce Boudreau on the phone for a bit today to chat about the goalie situation and tomorrow's game against the Leafs: The Capitals are coming off consecutive road games in which their goaltending...
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Lindsay Applebaum
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January 14, 2010; 3:29 PM ET |
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Tags: Jose Theodore, Michal Neuvirth, Semyon Varlamov, Toronto Maple Leafs
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Capitals get the day off
Coach Bruce Boudreau gave the players the day off today following a three-game road trip in which the Capitals went 2-1 but had to overcome shaky goaltending over the final two games. Michal Neuvirth was pulled twice, and while Jose Theodore was solid in last night's 5-4 shootout win against...
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Gene Wang
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January 14, 2010; 11:09 AM ET |
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Caps-Panthers postgame open thread
You can't spell postgame wrap-up without Tarik (okay, you can, but give us a break), so only for tonight, we're skipping the notes and quotes and calling it a day. I know, the timing is impeccable. Here's Amy Shipley's gamer from the Caps' 5-4 shootout win over the Panthers...
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Lindsay Applebaum
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January 13, 2010; 11:29 PM ET |
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Tonight's lineup: Caps at Panthers
Michal Neuvirth will be back between the pipes tonight as the Caps attempt to bounce back from last night's 7-4 thumping in Tampa. Tomas Vokoun, meantime, will be in net for the Panthers. The Caps have outscored Florida 17-7 in three lopsided wins this season -- and each of those...
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Tarik El-Bashir
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January 13, 2010; 6:58 PM ET |
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Boudreau on Bradley, Erskine and no excuses
Tidbits from this morning's skate at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, Fla: *Capitals Coach Bruce Boudreau said he was informed that the instigator penalty levied on Matt Bradley during Tuesday night's 7-4 loss to Tampa Bay had been rescinded after a review of the game videos. Boudreau, who said he...
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Amy Shipley
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January 13, 2010; 1:24 PM ET |
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Tags: Florida Panthers, John Erskine, Matt Bradley, Tampa Bay Lightning
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No discipline for Matt Bradley
Matt Bradley won't face any disciplinary action for leaving the bench prior to fighting Steve Downie last night, I'm told by a league spokesman. In the third period of last night's 7-4 loss in Tampa, Bradley came to Alex Ovechkin's aid after the Capitals' captain squared off to fight Downie....
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Tarik El-Bashir
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January 13, 2010; 11:21 AM ET |
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Morning roundup: Caps let Bolts slip away
Having decided that 12 straight losses to a single team was enough, thankyouverymuch, the Lightning finally beat the Caps last night, 7-4, for the first time since Nov. 16, 2007. Here's a game summary and here's much, much more in Tarik's postgame wrap-up. Over at the D.C. Sports Bog,...
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Lindsay Applebaum
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January 13, 2010; 5:36 AM ET |
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More on the Ovechkin-Downie-Bradley incident
Remember that story I wrote the other day about the Caps being more disciplined and how their penalty kill was facing fewer shorthanded situations because of it? Well, it's a good thing I wrote it when I did, because my editors might not have let it get in the...
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Tarik El-Bashir
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January 13, 2010; 1:04 AM ET |
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Tags: Alex Ovechkin, Matt Bradley, Tampa Bay Lightning
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Tonight's lineup: Caps at Lightning
Michal Neuvirth will start in goal tonight as the Caps go for their fourth consecutive win overall and 13th in a row over the Lightning (that includes a seven game winning streak at St. Pete Times Forum). Neuvirth is expected to oppose Tampa Bay's Mike Smith. Looks like the only...
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Tarik El-Bashir
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January 12, 2010; 6:50 PM ET |
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Boudreau on Schultz: 'He's playing the best he's played in his career'
A strange road trip got a little stranger this morning in Tampa, where the Caps were not able to have a morning skate because the ice was not ready. I'm told new ice was put down Sunday night after the circus left town, but Lightning officials were concerned about the...
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Tarik El-Bashir
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January 12, 2010; 12:17 PM ET |
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Morning roundup: Poti makes an impact on offense
(Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) He's not exactly in the Rocket Richard Trophy race, but defenseman Tom Poti has shown he's capable of putting up some numbers on offense recently: Poti posted a three-point night Saturday in Atlanta, scoring his first regular season goal in 14 months and notching a pair...
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Lindsay Applebaum
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January 12, 2010; 5:38 AM ET |
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Erskine 'questionable' and other notes
The Caps just completed a brisk practice at the Lightning's facility in Brandon, Fla. This was one of those weird road practices where the players got dressed at the game rink, bussed to the practice rink, then bussed right back. That means there wasn't much time for post-practice interviews, but...
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Tarik El-Bashir
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January 11, 2010; 1:54 PM ET |
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Tags: John Erskine, Michal Neuvirth, Tampa Bay Lightning, Tom Poti
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Erskine not practicing
Defenseman John Erskine is not on the ice with his teammates at Ice Sports Forum this morning, which could mean the Caps' toughest defenseman is out for tomorrow's game against the Lightning. Erskine suffered an undisclosed injury Saturday in Atlanta and missed almost all of the third period. With Erskine...
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Tarik El-Bashir
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January 11, 2010; 11:07 AM ET |
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Morning roundup: Staying out of the box
(John Amis/AP) Responding to two seasons of pleas from Coach Bruce Boudreau, several Caps players have finally started to cut back on their minor penalties. Only five teams have been whistled for fewer minor infractions than the Caps' 171 in 44 games. "I think I snapped once too often,"...
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Lindsay Applebaum
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January 11, 2010; 8:54 AM ET |
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Caps 8, Thrashers 1
On Friday, Tom Poti told me the Caps wanted to bury the rest of the Southeast Division on this three game southern swing. On Saturday, the defenseman helped his team get off to a pretty good start with an 8-1 rout in Atlanta, which pushed their lead over the...
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Tarik El-Bashir
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January 10, 2010; 12:01 AM ET |
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