Caps roster taking shape for Friday’s game against Carolina. Forward Matt Bradley is back off emergency leave after the birth of his son, Henry, on Tuesday. That means forward Keith Aucoin is headed back to AHL Hershey. Teammate Alexandre Giroux is going with him. Center Mathieu Perreault will be back in the lineup after a stomach illness kept him out of the Buffalo game. That fills out the forward corps with Tyler Sloan still at wing.
No update on defenseman Brian Pothier since the Caps didn’t practice today. He missed the second half of the Buffalo game with an undisclosed injury. But John Erskine – a healthy scratch Wednesday – could slide back in. That would leave Pothier and Michael Nylander as two of the three scratches. One of the forwards could come out if the Caps – and team Dr. Ben Shaffer – decide Mike Knuble (broken finger) is ready to play. He is eligible to come off the longterm injured reserve list at any time after missing 11 games.
