Game #26
Caps (14-5-6, 34 points) at Montreal Canadiens (12-12-1, 25 points)
The Caps are back in action tonight at Bell Centre, where they’ll try to build on Wednesday’s 2-0 shutout of Buffalo. Prior to that win they had gone 1-2-2 over the previous five games. Injuries are again a factor. Defenseman Shaone Morrisonn is a game-time decision. None of Alex Semin (wrist), Tom Poti (upper-body injury), Mike Knuble (broken finger) or Quintin Laing (broken jaw) made the trip. Defenseman Tyler Sloan has left the team for a funeral back home in Alberta. Defenseman Karl Alzner played well on Wednesday in his first NHL game of the year. We’ll see if he can keep that level of play up in Game No. 2.
Quebec natives Mathieu Perreault and Alexandre Giroux – a call-up from Hershey who takes Sloan’s place at left wing – will play before family and friends in Montreal. Giroux was the AHL MVP last year and has 10 goals and 27 assists already this season for the Bears in just 16 games. He had one goal in three games this year for the Caps during an earlier recall in October.
As expected, no suspension for Alex Ovechkin for his hit on Buffalo’s Patrick Kaleta on Wednesday. The 5-minute boarding call led to Ovechkin’s ejection from that one. And that’s a big deal for the Caps because Montreal is one of Ovechkin’s favorite cities. He has 10 goals and 10 assists in 17 career games against the Habs.
Washington goalie Semyon Varlamov returns to the scene of his NHL debut. He earned a 2-1 win at Bell Centre last Dec. 13. Varlamov was in goal for his first career shutout on Wednesday. The 21-year-old is expected to start tonight for the seventh time in 10 games. He has a .949 save percentage and a 1.48 goals-against average during that stretch. Varlamov did not play in last week’s 3-2 loss to Montreal at Verizon Center. That was the first meeting between the two teams this season.
