Courtesy: Fansided.com
The Washington Capitals had a better start to their week than some people as their captain Alexander Ovechkin practiced fully after missing his team’s last two games with an upper body injury.
While the Capitals haven’t missed their star entirely too much — Washington has won their last two games without his presence — it will be nice to have the top line of Ovechkin – Backstrom – Johansson reassembled. Given that Nicklas Backstrom was able to elevate his play over the team’s last two games as he scored three goals and took more shots in general, it will be interesting to see if he resorts back to his playmaker style, or sticks to the upbeat approach he’s been providing recently.
Sometimes with the Capitals, when Ovechkin is healthy, they look to him to take all of the shots, or most of them. While he is a sniper and can score from virtually any area on the ice, the Capitals often pass up great opportunities just to find Alex. Often times as well, Ovechkin looks to make unexpected passes that he can make, but his mates don’t expect them to come to the tape of their sticks as the puck ends up hitting the rink ads. High energy players like Ovechkin are great, but the uptempo nature of Backstrom in these last two meetings could spur something great for the boys from D.C.
As the Capitals look to continue their current homestand, the New York Islanders come to town coming off of a win over the Ottawa Senators Friday night. The 6-5-3 Islanders are 4-4-2 in their last 10 games and recently acquired former Buffalo Sabres forward Thomas Vanek to further bolster their offense. Losing Matt Moulson may hurt this team, but when Vanek has his shot working, he’s easily a mid-30s goal-scorer. The Isles are lead by their leading scorer center Frans Nielsen and forward Kyle Okposo as he continues to build off of his strong performances in their playoff series against the Pittsburgh Penguins last season.
38-year-old Evgeni Nabokov has had a solid season thus far and given that it is early in the 82-game marathon that is the 2013-14 season, it doesn’t appear as if the veteran is tiring anytime soon. Nabokov boasts a 2.92 GAA, .903 save percentage and a 5-3-3 overall record. Braden Holtby will likely get the nod between the pipes for the Capitals as he is coming off of a 30-shot shutout of the Philadelphia Flyers Friday night in a 7-0 victory. Holtby got the night off Saturday as the Capitals defeated the Florida Panthers 3-2 in shootout fashion behind 31 saves from backup goalie Michael Neuvirth. Holtby is 5-5-0 this season with a 2.75 GAA and a .921 save percentage.
The puck drops at 7PM at Verizon Center in Washington D.C. Tuesday night. There will be a Troy Brouwer bobblehead giveaway for fans in attendance. The bobblehead has a mustache as Brouwer is growing one for the month of November as a part of the “#Movember” movement.
