Game #73
Caps (48-14-10, 106 points) vs. Pittsburgh Penguins (42-25-6, 90 points)
The NHL’s best rivalry is renewed at Verizon Center tonight. The Penguins are without star center Evgeni Malkin. The Caps are missing forward Brooks Laich. Bruce Boudreau says Laich could skate at practice on Friday, but we likely won’t see him in a game until Sunday against Calgary. That won’t sit well with a guy who had played in 257 straight games before tonight. No word on if he’ll wear a visor for protection. Boudreau said the training staff doesn’t want to mess around with an injury around the left eye. Also no confirmation from Boudreau on if Laich actually has a broken orbital bone from Boudreau. Wearing a visor will be a “negotiation” between Laich and the training staff. Needless to say – he’d rather not wear one. Not really his style, but Laich might not have a choice.
The Caps’ magic number to clinch the Eastern Conferece top seed is five points. The Penguins are still fighting for the Atlantic Division title with the New Jersey Devils. Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin, meanwhile, are fighting for the goal-scoring title with 45 each. Interesting to see if they start one-upping each other if one gets an early goal. Boudreau said Jose Theodore will start tonight. So he goes back with Semyon Varlamov against Carolina on Thursday, right? Not necessarily. Boudreau said pregame he may stick with Theodore tomorrow. Not for sure yet. But it’s getting to be that time where you want to see how Theodore responds in that scenario.
