Capitals Insider (Free subscription) | 11/03/2009
Practice just started at KCI and Bruce Boudreau rolled out a few new line combinations as the Capitals prepare for tomorrow's game against New Jersey without Alex Ovechkin. Boyd Gordon, who has missed eight straight games, is the only other player not on the ice. Fleischmann-Backstrom-Knuble Laich-Morrison-Semin Fehr-Perreault-Clark Laing-Steckel-Bradley As most of you already saw, Mathieu Perreault...
Capitals Insider (Free subscription) | 10/26/2009
The Caps just hit the ice here at KCI and Bruce Boudreau has made some changes to accomodate the return of Alexander Semin. Semin, who has missed the past two games with a combination of injury and illness, according to the team, is back on the top line with Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom. Boudreau has also restored the second line to the way it looked at the start of the season, with Brooks Laich-Brendan...
Capitals Insider (Free subscription) | 10/22/2009
With Alexander Semin "touch and go" with an illness and Boyd Gordon out with a sore back, the Caps have recalled forwards Keith Aucoin and Alexandre Giroux from Hershey. No word yet on who will play tonight in Atlanta (7 p.m., CSN), but Tarik will get a glimpse at the lineup when the morning skate begins at 11:30. Stay tuned.
Capitals Insider (Free subscription) | 10/21/2009
I'm going to be tied up with some reporting and writing this afternoon, but I wanted to share a few updates on the injured/ill Caps: *Coach Bruce Boudreau said the team will likely have to call up two forwards for tomorrow's game in Atlanta because Alexander Semin is "touch and go" with an illness and Boyd Gordon is still battling a sore back. Both players, though, are going on the road trip....
Capitals Insider (Free subscription) | 10/21/2009
With their first Southeast Division game looming tomorrow in Atlanta, the Caps are running low on healthy forwards. Alexander Semin (the team said he was ill on Monday) and Boyd Gordon (sore back) are missing from practice this morning. Tomas Fleischmann, meantime, is skating, but he's on LTI and is unavailable to play until next week's game Philly. As of this moment, the lines look like this: Ovechkin-Backstrom-Knuble...
Capitals Insider (Free subscription) | 10/20/2009
The Capitals just announced that they've reassigned Keith Aucoin to the Hershey Bears. Aucoin played on the third line the past two games, stepping in for injured center Boyd Gordon, who has been nursing a sore back. It's unclear what this move means about Gordon's status. Gordon was out on the ice at KCI Monday morning but did not make it through the entire practice. The Capitals' next game is Thursday...
Capitals Insider (Free subscription) | 10/19/2009
Practice has started and both goaltender Jose Theodore and center Boyd Gordon, who missed Saturday's game against Nashville are back on the ice at KCI. Theodore was bothered by back spasms that forced him to leave the game against San Jose. I'll check up on Theodore's status after practice, but it's definitely a good sign that he was able to return today as the team hoped. With three days of practice...
Capitals Insider (Free subscription) | 10/16/2009
Practice just began here at KCI and goalie Jose Theodore and center Boyd Gordon are not skating. Theodore is suffering from back spasms, which flared up last night in the first period after he reached for a loose puck. Theodore's status for tomorrow's game is uncertain, but given that he's not practicing, it seems possible that he'll miss tomorrow's game against the Predators and the Caps will have...
Capitals Insider (Free subscription) | 10/15/2009
Fourth line center Boyd Gordon (sore back) won't suit up tonight against the Sharks, Coach Bruce Boudreau said. He'll be replaced in the lineup by Keith Aucoin, who was called up earlier today just in case. Aucoin will center the third line, while David Steckel will drop to the fourth line. Boudreau is hoping Aucoin can spark the third line and that Steckel might get the fourth line going offensively....
Capitals Insider (Free subscription) | 10/15/2009
Coach Bruce Boudreau said the Caps have a couple of players who are "banged up" and that's why the team recalled Keith Aucoin from Hershey today. Whether Aucoin will suit up tonight as the Caps attempt to snap an 11-game losing streak vs. the Sharks, however, remains to be seen. "It was more precaution than anything else," Boudreau said. When asked which players were ailing, Boudreau...
Capitals Insider (Free subscription) | 10/15/2009
Center Keith Aucoin has been recalled from Hershey and is on the ice for the morning skate. I have to imagine that he's here just in case Boyd Gordon cannot play. Gordon, however, is on the ice right now. John Erskine, meantime, has been placed on IR with an injured hand he suffered while blocking a shot in the second period against the Devils. Erskine will have to miss the next two games before he...
Capitals Insider (Free subscription) | 10/14/2009
Tom Poti and Boyd Gordon have returned to practice this morning. But John Erskine, who suffered an upper body injury in the second period Monday, still is not skating with his teammates. The big defenseman skated on his own before practice, but that likely means he's out for tomorrow's game against the Sharks. The forward combos, meantime, look the same as yesterday. The D-pairings, however, will likely...
Capitals Insider (Free subscription) | 10/13/2009
Practice is underway here at KCI and there are a few players who are not skating. Defensemen John Erskine and Tom Poti and center Boyd Gordon are not on the ice. Erskine, of course, left last night's 3-2 loss to the Devils after getting hurt early in the second period and Poti appeared to be in pain late. I'm not sure what's wrong with Gordon yet. One other notable development: Coach Bruce Boudreau,...
The Peerless Prognosticator (Free subscription) | 10/11/2009
Goaltending. It was a game about goaltending. Well, sort of. Because if Jose Theodore didn’t play as well as he did, and Chris Osgood didn’t play as poorly as he did on two shots, the Caps would have lost tonight’s game against the Red Wings by a much wider margin than the final 3-2 score. Actually, it was something of a clinic in Red Wing hockey. Subtle, yet effective defense. Don’t...
Capitals Insider (Free subscription) | 10/09/2009
In the wake of Thursday's 4-3 loss to the Rangers, Coach Bruce Boudreau has tweaked his third and fourth forward combos -- two lines he openly complained about after the game. The top two lines remain unchanged, but Eric Fehr is skating on the third line with Steckel and Chris Clark and Quintin Laing has been dropped to the fourth line with Boyd Gordon and Matt Bradley. Fehr was about to be assigned...
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