Courtesy: russianmachineneverbreaks.com
After a comfortable 5-2 victory over the Nashville Predators Saturday night at Verizon Center, the Washington Capitals are back on the road as they face the much maligned New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden Sunday night.
Head coach Adam Oates made the decision to not rush backup goalie Michal Neuvirth back into action and decided to give Braden Holtby the night off as Philipp Grubauer will get the start between the pipes for the Capitals. Holtby rests after starting six-straight for Washington in lieu of Neuvirth’s right ankle injury he suffered Nov. 29. Sunday will be Grubauer’s second career NHL start. His last time as the starting netminder came during last season’s abridged campaign March 9 versus the New York Islanders. The game is also his fourth appearance in a game at the pro level as he was inserted into the game Tuesday night against the Carolina Hurricanes when Oates yanked Holtby after two periods of bad goaltending.
The forward lines will likely remain the same as Brooks Laich will miss his fifth-straight game with a strained right groin muscle. He, along with Neuvirth, skated back at the Kettler Capitals Iceplex this morning as he was back on the ice for the first time since Nov. 27. Oates hasn’t made it clear as to exactly when either Laich or Neuvirth will return to the lineup, but it doesn’t seem likely for Laich to participate in Tuesday’s contest against the Tampa Bay Lightning at home.
The defensive pairings will remain the same except for maybe the third pair. Patrick Wey didn’t play great, yet didn’t play awful in his first career NHL game Saturday night so Adam Oates has to decide whether he gets the call or Steve Oleksy. Dmitry Orlov will be the other defenseman on the third pairing.
Henrik Lundqvist will get the call for the Rangers as the Capitals look to avenge a shutout 2-0 loss to New York on the NBC Sports Network’s “Rivalry Night” back on Oct. 16. Lundqvist and the Rangers lost a 4-3 overtime game Saturday night. New York will be without Marc Staal on defense, but Michael Del Zotto will be inserted in his place. The team who best responds to back-to-back games the best will win this one. The classic brawn against finesse matchup will be on display in The Big Apple.
