Game #50
The Olympic break is fast closing in. Tonight is Washington’s 50th game of the year and it’s a doozy – on the road against the defending champion Penguins at Mellon Arena. The Caps (31-12-6, 68 points) are still one point ahead of New Jersey (33-14-1, 67 points) for first place in the Eastern Conference. They have won seven of eight games, including the 3-2 comeback win over Detroit on Tuesday. Pittsburgh (31-19-1, 63 points) is in fourth in the Eastern Conference and has won four of six.
Both Alex Ovechkin – last week’s NHL First Star of the Week with 10 points – and Sidney Crosby are on a roll lately. Crosby had a six-point game (2 goals, 4 assists) against the Islanders on Tuesday. But the Penguins are a bit banged up with forwards Pascal Dupuis (face injury) and Max Talbot (lower-body injury) out for tonight’s game along with goalie Marc-Andre Fleury (broken left ring finger). Forwards Dustin Jeffrey and Nick Johnson have both been recalled from AHL Wilkes-Barre, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Rookie defenseman John Carlson continues his tour of North America this month. He was recalled from AHL Hershey yesterday – which indicates defenseman Mike Green is questionable tonight, at best. Green endured a big collision with Detroit’s Todd Bertuzzi on Tuesday and was clearly shaken up on the bench after that shift, though he quickly returned to the ice. But Green didn’t practice on Wednesday at Kettler Iceplex and, while he reportedly took the morning skate today, Carlson is up for a reason. Defenseman Brian Pothier is definitely out with an undisclosed injury. John Erskine made the trip, but he too is questionable with an upper-body injury. Hence, Carlson makes a return trip to the NHL after being sent down on Monday. Since Jan. 5, the 20-year-old been in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan for the World Juniors tournament, Winnipeg, Manitoba for a Hershey road trip followed by a flight home to Pennsylvania and then a road game in Norfolk, Va. After that? In Washington for Caps games against Toronto and Philadelphia. Next up was a trip to the AHL All-Star game in Portland, Maine. He bussed home to Hershey and now he’s in Pittsburgh. That is some serious traveling in 15 days.
Old friend Brent Johnson is expected to start for the Penguins. He actually has good career numbers against the Caps (5-4 with a .952 save percentage). “Johnnie” spent four years in Washington and was a popular figure in the dressing room as Olie Kolzig’s primary backup. Things have changed a bit since he last played against Washington on Oct. 18, 2003 with the St. Louis Blues. Johnson came on in relief of – wait for it – Chris Osgood that night. Chris Pronger still patrolled the blueline in St. Louis. Peter Bondra was still a Cap. In fact, so were Steve Konowalchuk and Jaromir Jagr and Sergei Gonchar, for that matter. What’s the opposite of glory days? Pretty much that Caps team around February of that season when the rebuilding process began in earnest.
