As you’re on your way to the game, or before you settle down for a good two hours of hockey, here are some notes about tonight’s matchup.
- Michal Neuvirth is still not ready to play. While he practiced for awhile after the majority of the team left the ice, Danny Sabourin will be backing up Tomas Vokoun tonight.
- Speaking of Sabourin, apparently goalie skills run strong. He was seen dropping the cap from his water bottle and using a kick save to keep it from rolling away.
- Mathieu Perreault and John Erskine were the last ones on the ice. Literally, the last ones, aside from Neuvirth. They were out there roughly 30 minutes after the main practice had ended.
- Yesterday, Matt Hendricks pulled Alexander Semin off to the side for a heated discussion. When asked about it, Hendricks brushed it aside as nothing. “We were just doing a drill and he tried to make a pass instead of a shot. The guy’s got a tremendous shot. I was just trying to coax him into using it a bit more.” Don’t worry, there’s no need to panic. Sasha apparently still cares.
- Alex Ovechkin did actually attend morning skate today. While Perreault came off last, Bruce Boudreau said both he and DJ King would take the pregame skate to see who would be in the lineup.
