Nylander wants out?; Plus other Capitals notes.

After being scratched from the Capitals line-up for last nights game, Michael Nylander vented to Capitals Insider Tarik El-Bashir about the situation.

"I feel good on the ice, but it doesn't matter. We'll have to see what we can do, what happens."

When I asked him if his struggles were the result of his playing style not meshing with Boudreau's, Nylander said: "I don't know. I am not the coach. What can I say? This is the way he wants to do it. I just have to figure a way around it."

"I know how the system works," he added. "I don't have a problem with the system. The system is quite easily played."

His comments may hint at the fact he wants to be traded to a team that uses him more effectively and give him more ice time.

Nylander is in the second year of a 4 year term, and his $4,875,000 contract could prove difficult to unload at the trade deadline.

Also of note, Bryan Helmer, Karl Alzner and Daren Machesney were all returned to Hershey today. It is likely that Alzner could return to the Capitals line-up after the All-Star festivities have ended.

Also, Nicklas Backstrom will fore go the All-Star Young Stars game citing that he "felt like it made more sense to give someone else that opportunity and use this time to rest and prepare for the second half of the season with the Capitals."

He assured the press that his decision is not injury related.

Finally, Capitals prospects Michael Neuvirth and Travis Morin took their part in the ECHL All-Star game tonight in Reading, PA. The American All-Stars (Morin, Neuvirth and co.) topped the National Roster 11-5.

Morin finished the game with 2 assists while Neuvirth stopped 19 of 20 shots in the third period of the contest.

Caps down Habs 2-1.

It wasn't pretty, but I'm sure that if you asked the Washington Capitals, they wouldn't have much to complain about in Saturday's victory.

The Capitals entered a hostile environment on a national stage and were able to gut out a 2-1 victory over an ailing Canadiens team, facing the same ordeals which plagued Washington up until Friday.

Washington was first on the board as Nicklas Backstrom netted a power play goal mid way though the first. They finished 1-4 on the mad advantage for the night.

Montreal meanwhile could not get things going offensively throughout the first part of this game. Stars like Alexei Kovalev, Alex Tanguay and former Cap Robert Lang were largely ineffective - especially on the man advantage - going 0-8 on the night. Montreal's power play has struggled greatly, and is now ranked 26th overall in the league, a unit that has been a league leader the past two years, now stagnant.

Les Habitants tied the game late in the second period on a Patrice Brisebois rocket which beat rookie goaltender Simeon Varlamov over his shoulder.

The game would remain deadlocked until the final five minutes of the third period when a slumping Michael Nylander potted his third goal on the year, and his first in 26 games off the left pad of Jaroslav Halak.

Varlamov went on to stop 32 of 33 shots in his NHL debut.

Notes:

-Nicklas Backstrom, Tyler Sloan and Sergei Fedorov all left the game with injuries. Backstrom seemed to be ailing from migraines, something he has had in the past, which is believed not to be serious. The status of Sloan and Fedorov is uncertain, and should be updated tomorrow.

-Simeon Varlamov looked rather impressive in his first National Hockey League game, and personally left me wishing I would be able to see more from him. He has a very aggressive style of play as he likes to get way out of his crease to challenge shooters and it worked like a charm last night as he was named the games first star. I was taken aback by the calm yet intense demeanor that he displayed, playing in arguably the toughest arena to start a professional career in, not to mention the most important night of the week in Canada. Nothing fazed him, most notably in the third period when he stopped all 14 shots he faced. The future seems bright for this young net minder.

-Washington will head to Long Island on Tuesday for their next game with the Islanders. If you are a fan up in Canada (like me), the game will be available on TSN2.

Pre-Game Thoughts: 10/16/08 Washington Capitals at Pittsburgh Penguins

Game by game. Period by period. Shift by shift. The Washington Capitals have progressively improved their play all year.

Granted, we are only three games in, but if Monday nights victory is any indication of what lies ahead, the Capitals are in good hands.

The team was firing on all cylinders against Vancouver, allowing only 10 shots against all game. Tonight they will take on an old foe in the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Crosby versus Ovechkin. Or if you prefer, Ovechkin versus Malkin.

Both teams feature an arsenal of stars, which provided fantastic games between the two last year. Let's hope this is case tonight.


Pittsburgh won last years season series 3-1, while three of the four games were separated by only one goal.

Pens defensemen Sergei Gonchar and Ryan Whitney are nursing long term injuries, which should mean that Ovechkin will see a frequent dosage of Brooks Orpik, Pittsburgh's most sound defenseman. This should bode well for the second line of Semin, Nylander and Laich who should be able to capitalize on the lack of healthy defensemen.

For Pittsburgh it will be important for their superstars to get on the score sheet. They gutted out a 3-2 win against Philadelphia on Tuesday, without Crosby or Malkin registering a point.

However, the goaltending of Marc-Andre Fleury has been superb and is to thank for the teams early season success.

Washington will counter with Jose Theodore in net. Theodore sat in place of Brent Johnson on Monday, who notched his 100th win in the process. Theodore is 1-0-0 on the season with a 4.00 GAA and .842 SV%.

Capitals fowards Viktor Kozlov and Donald Brashear will be out of tonight's contest, due to injuries. Kozlov's status is week-to-week with an undisclosed injury, while Brashear is healing an injured hand.

Washington has not had very much success against Pittsburgh lately, and tonight will serve as the first test of the year. A chance to turn the tables on this bitter Patrick Division match-up.

A chance at redemption in this series.

Pre-Game Thoughts: 10/13/08 Washington Capitals vs. Vancouver Canucks - UPDATED

A sigh of relief was all that could escape Capitals fans mouths after Alexander Ovechkin notched his second goal in Saturday nights game to give Washington a 4-2 lead with under five minutes left to play.

For the second game in a row the Capitals struggled early, and were forced to prove their resilience as they erased a two goal deficit early in the second period. Tonight they will face a Canucks team and a familiar foe who will look to shut the Caps down.

Roberto Luongo has faced this team as a member of the Florida Panthers, and now as a Vancouver Canuck. He is 15-9-3 with two shutouts, a 2.14 GAA and a .933 SV% lifetime against Washington. Luongo, in all likelihood will shut the door on the Capitals should they stumble out of the blocks again, so it will be imperil that they play a full sixty minute game.

Washington will have to get more production out of their third line of Fleischmann, Nylander and Clark. Not only have they yet to show up on the score sheet, but with the exception of Fleischmann, more resemble the ghosts of the Montreal Forum.

To put it into context, the Canucks third line of Alexander Burrows (2G, 1A), Ryan Kesler (1G, 2A) and Rick Rypien (2G) have ammased 8 points combined, compared to the one assist Michael Nylander marked against Atlanta.

Bruce Boudreau runs an up-tempo offense that relies on each line doing their part. They key to Washington's success tonight will be to ensure they can play a full team game and put up points early. If Luongo is provided a two goal lead, it could be curtains for the Capitals this evening.

Update: Tarik El-Bashir reports that Fedorov will be playing defense tonight. I will continue to update as news becomes available.

"With a game against Roberto Luongo and the undefeated Canucks looming tonight, Coach Bruce Boudreau appears to have changed things up. Sergei Fedorov wearing a black jersey this morning and he's working with the defensemen. Michael Nylander, meantime, has replaced him as the second line center, while Boyd Gordon is centering the third line."

Also of note, Jose Theodore has a career record of 17-7-1-2 with three shutouts in head-to-head match-ups against Roberto Luongo.

Update 2: Here are the line-ups for tonight:

Washington Forwards
8-Ovechkin, 19-Backstrom, 25-Kozlov
21-Laich, 92-Nylander, 28-Semin
14-Fleischmann, 15-Gordon, 17-Clark
87-Brashear, 39-Steckel, 10-Bradley

Washington Defense
26-Morrisonn, 52-Green
3-Poti, 55-Schultz
91-Fedorov, 23-Jurcina

Brent Johnson will get the start in goal tonight, which according to Boudreau "was the plan from the start".