Caps Triumph in Preseason Opener

Fleischmann's Two Goals Pace 4-1 Win
Boxscore

I know it's too early to say "I told you so," but Tomas Fleischmann's opening night performance is great start on his way to proving his worth to the Washington Capitals. Maybe we should trust Gabby on this one and stop writing off the talented Czech winger. That's all I'm going to say about "Flash."

Simeon Varlamov performed well in his NHL debut stopping all 20 shots he saw in the first twenty minutes of the game. He showed off his outstanding reaction speed and withstood a flurry at the end of the first period. Darren Machesney finshed off the game stopping 10 out of 11 shots over the final two periods. I think there is no doubt that Varlamov has the skills to play at the NHL level right now. The only thing stopping him from starting off the season with the big club is his adjustment not only to the american game and the smaller rinks, but the american culture as well. The Caps will bring him along slowly, but don't be surprised to see him with the big boys sooner rather than later.

Matt Bradley wore the "C" during the game, and showed off his offensive skills too with a nice goal against the Canes' number one netminder, Cam Ward. One of the reasons the Capitals decided to keep Bradley this offseason in place of Matt Cooke was because of his importance to the team off the ice. If he can provide a bit more offensively, like Cooke brought to the team last spring, it will be a great help to the Caps secondary scoring.

The Caps and the Canes square off again Thursday night in the preseason home opener at the Verizon Center.

Capitals/Hurricanes Preview

Washington Capitals (20-21-7, 47 points)
at
Carolina Hurricanes (25-19-6, 56 points)

Television: NC8
Radio: WTNT 570-AM
Gametime: 7:00 PM

The second half of the season officially begins Friday in Raleigh, North Carolina as the Capitals begin a home-and-home series against the defending Stanley Cup champions. It was only eight days ago that Washington entered an away game against Carolina riding a six game road losing streak and a three game losing streak overall. Despite all that, the team was able to put together a solid sixty minute effort for an impressive 5-2 win.

They will need an even better performance in order to overcome a Hurricanes team that will be fully prepared to avenge what their coach Peter Laviolette described as a bitterly disappointing effort. Carolina went into the break with a two game losing streak after they followed up that game with an overtime loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning last Saturday.

Alex Ovechkin will return to the team after missing Thursday's practice while traveling back from the NHL All-Star game in Dallas. A game in which he had the most ice time of any forward and was able to tally his first career all-star goal. It remains to be seen if Ovechkin will continue to wear his stylish but controversial blue mirrored visor in the regular season. While not against NHL rules, a similar mirrored visor he wore last year was voted down by general managers by a vote of 29-1 after New Jersey Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur complained that he could not see his eyes. He enters Friday night's game riding a nine game point scoring streak, accumulating 4 goals and 11 assists over that span.

Carolina defenseman Niclas Wallin is questionable for the game with a lower-body injury which he suffered against Washington in last week's game.
For the Capitals, what last week was described as the flu, has now been changed to an upper body injury for Brian Pothier. He will miss Friday's game as defenseman Jeff Schultz was recalled Thursday to take his place in the lineup. He played well when he was thrust into the lineup before the break because of injuries. As reported in the Washington Post, Matt Bradley will also be missing from the lineup for personal reasons. This could explain why Jakub Klepis was recalled earlier in the week. Richard Zednik should return to the lineup any day now after recovering from a severe groin injury.

It will be the fifth out of eight games on the season between these division rivals.