One last regular-season practice for the Caps at Kettler Iceplex on Saturday morning. Everyone was accounted for save defenseman Tyler Sloan, who coach Bruce Boudreau says has an upper-body injury. Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom and Alex Semin all took their option. Nothing to do now except prepare for Sunday’s game against Boston and wait to see who the first-round playoff opponent will be. We may not know until 6 p.m. Sunday night.
Some players still have milestones to reach, of course. Defenseman Mike Green can hit 20 goals and become the first NHL defenseman to do that in consecutive seasons in 17 years. He had 31 goals last season. Jeff Schultz – or Ovechkin for that matter – could finish with a +50 plus-minus rating. Semin wants to reach 40 goals for the first time and with one point would hit 300 points for his career. Brooks Laich could hit 60 points for the first time. Jason Chimera would play in his 500th career game.
“It’d be nice. We’re obviously aware of Ovi and his milestone and 50 goals. As a teammate you want him to achieve his goal,” Green said. “Our job was to get him the puck [Friday]. It was quite obvious. but we were just happy for him. Such a great accomplishment. I don’t know how he does it. He scores 50 goals a season, especially in this time of the NHL where the goalies are outstanding. It’s tough to do. [Personally] I hope things work out tomorrow. It’s something that would be nice. If it doesn’t happen it’s not the end of the world. ”
Boudreau admitted he knows exactly how far each player is from those personal goals, saying that reaching any of them would be great. “But they’re not going to all get them. And they pale in comparison to the award they would get in June. We’re cognizant behind the bench of who is getting what ice time for their needs, too. And the big goal’s already been gotten – Brads got his 10th.”
Green said he and his teammates – during their own game against Atlanta – were keeping tabs as much as possible on the wild New York-Philadelphia game Friday night at Madison Square Garden. Both of those teams play for a postseason spot on Sunday in Philadelphia. The dynamic of Sunday’s game for the Caps could change depending on Boston’s contest with Carolina this afternoon. The Bruins are one point up on the Rangers and Flyers now and tied with Montreal. They could clinch a spot – or they might badly need a win on the road against the NHL’s best team. Plus, it could be a meeting between two first-round opponents. Just a little added wrinke. Some Caps players have also said they need to play well given how a poor regular-season finale last year against Florida – a 7-4 loss – led to a slow start in a first-round series against New York. Not everyone on the team agrees with that one, though.
“I thnk people talk too much about that last game last year. Games are different,” said Caps forward Brooks Laich. “You win some games and you lose some games. I think people talk about that game to make a story out of nothing. If we win tomorrow, if we lose tomorrow we don’t approach the first game of the playoffs any different.”
