Neuvirth and Kronwall to make Capitals debuts.

Just a quick note on tonight's game in Tampa Bay:

Michael Neuvirth will start in goal against the Lightning, making his NHL debut. Neuvirth will look to follow in the steps of fellow rookie goaltender Simeon Varlamov, attempting to win his first game of his young NHL career.

Also making his first start as a Capital will be Staffan Kronwall. Kronwall was claimed 8 days ago by the Capitals and finally has a grip on the system as well as his immigration status cleared.

Both Karl Alzner and Milan Jurcina will not play in tonight's game on the Capitals blue line.

Other additions to the line-up are Alexander Semin returing from injury as well as John Erskine getting back on the ice and out of the press box, as he has been a healthy scratch the past two games.

Fehr injured in Capitals victory

Right wing Eric Fehr left Saturday night's game with what appears to be a shoulder injury. His status is now day-to-day. Fehr's injury now brings the laundry list of wounded Capitals to 11, as the amount of man games lost is soon approaching 300.

Also, Karl Alzner notched his first career NHL goal tonight, while also adding an assist on Milan Jurcina's game winning goal in the third period.

He finished the game with a +2 rating while leading all Washington defensemen in ice time, logging a remarkable 23:06 minutes.

Washington rolls in to Carolina tomorrow and there may be another call up from Hershey coming, most probably one of Chris Bourque, Oskar Osala or Quintin Laing.

Speaking of Hershey, tonight they won their franchise record tenth game in a row, defeating the Hartford Wolfpack 4-2. Goaltender Simeon Varlamov notched his tenth win of the season, stopping 26 of 28 shots.

Caps "Rock the Red": 4-2 win over Blackhawks.

As the Washington Capitals raised their 2007-08 Southeast Division Championship banner to the rafters, 18,277 rabid fans were hoping to put yesterday out of their memory and turn the page on their 2008-09 campaign. And then the puck dropped.

Oh no. Not again. Not tonight.

That's all one could think as 26 seconds into the game, Washington found themselves down 1-0. A Kris Versteeg shot squeaked through Jose Theodore's pads on what many would call a routine save opportunity to put the Capitals behind the eight ball. At the half way point of the first, the Caps were down 2-0 as sophomore Jack Skille slapped a puck through Theodore's five hole again.

Deja vu.

For the second night in a row, Theodore was off to a rough start and the team would have to claw back to earn the win. Moments after falling behind 2-0, Theodore was called upon to make two desperation saves, denying the Hawks of a 3-0 lead.

It was then that the game started to change.

Washington's gritty fourth line of David Steckel, Donald Brashear and Matt Bradley provided the first spark of the game as Steckel made a nice feed to Bradley on the doorstep for a tap in goal. Just after the five minute mark of the second, Alexander Ovechkin scored a classic Ovechkin-esque goal, shooting through the legs of defenseman Brian Campbell and through the pads of screened Nikolai Khabibulin. This wasn't the first time that Ovechkin abused Campbell for a goal.

For the second game in a row, the Caps came back from an early deficit to tie the game. But unlike last night's short comings, tonight's home opener at the Phone Booth would be different.

Late in the third, Alexander Semin drove to the net and deposited the puck on the stick of Brooks Laich who netted his first of the year. Referee Bill McCreary had to go upstairs to make sure the puck had completely crossed the line, but after only a few minutes of deliberation, it was ruled a goal.

Then with under five minutes left in the third, Alexander Ovechkin sniped a shot low blocker side on Khabibulin to seal the game, his second of the night.

As for Theodore, he seemed to find his game in the second period and was helped out by his defense, who gave up only eleven shots through the remainder of the game. This allowed Theodore to get into the game, and he finished the game stopping 19 of 21 shots for the win.

Also of note was the play of winger Tomas Fleischmann. Fleischmann was a standout in my eyes making nice dekes and smart plays with the puck to try to generate scoring for an otherwise stagnant third line. He was praised for his play by Bruce Boudreau in his post game interview.

The defensive pairing of Milan Jurcina and John Erskine (better know as JURSKINE) played as good as a Caps fan could expect, logging a modest 15 minutes of ice time a piece. The duo was split up for last nights game, but Bruce Boudreau decided it would be best for his top four defensemen to play together while Jurcina and Erskine would fill in where needed. I have ragged on both of them as of late but their play in tonight's game was rather impressive.

The Capitals will now host the Vancouver Canucks on Monday night at 7:00 PM.

Pre-Game Thoughts: 10/11/08 Washington Capitals vs Chicago Blackhawks

The atmosphere leading up to last nights game was tense, as all Caps fans fidgeted, intent on the puck drop to start the season. And in the span of a few hours, it was the equivalent to letting air out of a balloon. A depleted sinking feeling. Doom and gloom.

And for some, it is doom and gloom. This was a team who was expected to come out of the gates fast and strike it's opponents the same way a puma goes for the jugular of the defenseless gazelle. But last night that was not to be.

The Caps gave up three early goals; and, after clawing their way back to a 4-4 tie they blew up in the third, giving up three more goals for a 7-4 finale.

Mike Green and Alexander Semin both had impressive games, putting up 6 points and scoring 3 of the Capitals 4 goals.

Tonight, they take on a talented lineup, featuring the likes of fellow Winnipeger Jonathan Toews, last years Calder Cup winner Patrick Kane and newly acquired Brian Campbell on the blue line. The Blackhawks bolster a much deeper squad than the Thrashers do, so it will be important not to slip tonight.

There are 4.5 million reasons why Jose Theodore has to be more consistent in net. After a decent preseason, Theodore blew up last night allowing four goals over the span of two periods; a few of them being Olaf Kolzig specials (check dictionary under "softies") and was pulled for back-up Brent Johnson who didn't end up fairing much better.

Chicago will ice a dangerous powerplay unit, so it will be important for Washington to limit their trips to the box.

Defense will also have to buckle down as tonight they face a very agile, aggressive and speedy club. This won't bode well for the JURSKINE duo (a combination of Jurcina and Erskine), who are two of the slower defenders in the bunch. To some it may seem like I pick on them but food for thought:

In two AHL games, Karl Alzner has 3 assists and is a +2 rating. I know it is still early in the year but I'm sticking by my convictions that he should be up here and a shake up will be needed to do so.

But to the doom and gloomers, here's even more food for thought:

I unfortunately do not have the stats handy, but I can assuredly say that under the Bruce Boudreau reign (dating back to last November for people just joining the party) the Capitals have rarely lost in back to back contests.

Bruce will have these guys ready to go. In Bruce we trust.

Pre-Game Thoughts: 10/10/08 Capitals at Thrashers

As the clock pushes it's way past 12 A.M., the dawn of the 2008-09 Washington Capitals season will be upon us. This off-season has been relatively busy for the Caps, all while trying to mold a Stanley Cup contender. Out are goalies Christobal Huet and legendary Olaf Kolzig, heading to Chicago and Tampa Bay respectively.

Washington's big acquisition this year is Jose Theodore, who is expected to carry a heavy load this year if the Capitals are to succeed.

The fowards and defense remains much the same, Mike Green, Brooks Laich, Shaone Morrisonn, Boyd Gordon, Eric Fehr, Sergei Fedorov have all signed contract extensions, and it appears this team is heading in the right direction.

The opposite is the case for Atlanta. After trading away superstar Marian Hossa at last years trade deadline, and failed to replace his scoring touch during the free agent period. They do not possess a particularly deep roster, and will look to rookie defenseman Zach Bogosian to play important minutes with the rest of this pitiable defensive corps.

That being said, Washington will still have to find a way to limit the playing time of John Erskine and Milan Jurcina in order to succeed. Both had disappointing pre-seasons and were vastly outplayed by rookie Karl Alzner, but the team felt it was best for Alzner to play more minutes in the AHL.

The clock will be ticking on the JURSKINE combination and it might not be long before either; or both, are replaced. But if the past 7 games are any indication, we should be in for a high scoring season from these upstart Caps.

It begins now.

Business as Usual?

The Washington Capitals plans today involved a 2:30 PM EST practice at the Kettler Capitals Iceplex in Arlington, VA. However, there was a slew of events today that made it anything but business as usual for Capitals fans. The following is a time capsule on the days comings and goings.

12:32 PM EST - An article published by Sportsnet.ca is brought up by Caps' fans regarding the possibility of Chicago Blackhawks goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin heading to Russia to play in the KHL. Terms are being arranged where as a KHL club would pay the final year on Khabibulin's contract, worth US$6.75 million, which would be cleared off Chicago's salary cap. It is a widespread rumor that the Blackhawks have been inquiring on the services of center Michael Nylander, whom the Caps would possibly deal to make room under the cap.

12:40 PM EST - A rumor breaks on HFBoards.com that there could be a deal in the works between Washington, Chicago and Boston. The deal would send Nylander to Chicago, defenseman Brent Seabrook to Boston, while Washington would end up receiving Marc Savard.

1:04 PM EST - An article out of the Boston Herald notes that Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli denies the notion that Savard will be moving, but doesn't rule out the possibility of another trade happening. “We’re not looking to trade Marc Savard. There’s a chance [that another deal could be made]. I’m looking to improve the team. I’ve had a couple of discussions, more than a couple.”

1:48 PM EST - The Capitals make four more roster cuts, the most notable being defenseman Sami Lepisto. Lepisto had suited up in two preseason games and received praise from coach Boudreau regarding his performance. The move was intriguing considering John Erskine and Milan Jurcina still hold roster spots given their poor performances to date. Granted, Lepisto was most likely sent to Hershey due to his waiver status, but it would appear a spot still remains open for a defenseman outside of the organization.

2:24 PM EST - Practice beings with very peculiar line ups. Eric Fehr was put on a line with Alexander Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom. Fehr has been slumping lately and this could be an attempt to get him producing.

Sergei Fedorov dawned a black jersey today, which means he was playing with the defensemen. Fedorov was paired up with Jeff Schultz on the back end, while rookie Karl Alzner remained in camp and practiced with veteran Tom Poti. It is unclear whether or not Alzner will crack the opening day line up, but if in fact he does, it could spell trouble for one of Erskine or Jurcina.

The decision to put Fedorov on the blue line could mean that they will try to squeeze under the salary cap by keeping a 22 man roster with 6 defensemen, while having Fedorov as a fall back in case of injury

Update - Capitals blogger Tarik El-Bashir caught up with Sami Lepisto after practice, who left the complex seemingly upset. "Obviously, it was not thing I wanted to happen. But now it has. I'm just going to work hard to get back here. I'm a little bit upset, but who wouldn't be?"

There was clearly plenty of action for the Caps' today who were supposed to be gearing up for a dress rehearsal of opening night through their final two preseason matches. If anything, today's events leave fans sitting on their hands wondering what kind of team we will see come October 10.