According to Capitals Insider, goalie Jose Theodore has left the team and retuned to Washington for "personal reasons".  The Caps recalled Michael Neuvirth to back up Semyon Varlamov tonight against the New York Rangers.

Also, Jay Beagle was recalled in case David Steckel can't go.  Steckel took a puck off the foot in yesterday's practice and was limping around afterward.

More details about Theodore's situation as they become available.

Photo © 2009 Cheryl Nichols. All Rights Reserved.

BOX SCORE//GAME SUMMARY//EVENT SUMMARY

Jose Theodore had a rough night in New Jersey.

Photo © 2009 Cheryl Nichols. All Rights Reserved.

The Caps are taking the day off in NYC tomorrow before returning to Prudential Center for practice on Monday and then game Tuesday night at Madison Square Gardens against Rangers.
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SCORESHEET

1ST PERIOD
04:15 WAS - [Power Play] T. Fleischmann (7), Slap Shot. Assist: Morrison, Green
05:02 WAS - M. Perreault (20), Wrist Shot. Assist: Green, Bradley
09:47 NJ - C. White (1), Wrist Shot. Assist: Langenbrunner, Zubrus

2ND PERIOD
05:44 NJ - [Power Play] J. Langenbrunner (4), Slap Shot. Assist: Murphy, Bergfors
14:40 NJ - Z. Parise (10), Wrist Shot. Assist: Zajac
19:04 NJ - M. Halischuk (1), Wrist Shot. Assist: Bergfors, Sestito

3RD PERIOD
03:23 NJ - C. Murphy (2), Tip-In. Assist: Zajac
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THREE STARS

1. Z. Parise - NJ (Goals: 1, Assists: 0)
2. J. Langenbrunner - NJ (Goals: 1, Assists: 1)
3. M. Halischuk - NJ (Goals: 1, Assists: 0)

Posted by Anthony Amobi, Special Contributor of Caps News Network

WASHINGTON – Despite not having Alex Ovechkin on the ice, the Washington Capitals aren’t suffering – in fact, they’re rolling. They made the most of their opportunities on Friday night, and in the end, the Capitals defeated the Minnesota Wild, 3-1.

The game was competitive from start to finish and Washington finally broke a 1-1 tie in the third period as Brian Pothier scored his second goal of the season at the two minute mark. The Capitals went up 3-1 in the final minute as Brooks Laich got his eighth goal of the season with an empty-netter.

Despite an excellent showing by the Wild’s Josh Harding – who stopped 38 of 40 shots on goal – he was overwhelmed in the third quarter and Minnesota could not get anything going.

Meanwhile, Washington’s Semyon Varlamov was superb, only allowing one goal – Cal Clutterbuck’s shot with a minute into the second period that gave Minnesota an early 1-0 lead. Overall, Varlamov had 29 saves against 30 shots on goal.

The Capitals got on the four minutes later as they had a power play and Mike Green took advantage. Minnesota covered Washington as tight as they could during the power play; however, the Capitals saw an opening, and Mike Green – with an assist from a Tomas Fleischman pass – scored his 4th goal of the season sending a shot past the legs of Harding to tie the game at one.

Washington may have won the game; however, they may have lost yet another teammate to injury.

Mike Knuble had to leave the game in the first period, as he fell over Harding in the Wild’s goal and crashed into the net, thanks to a push by Minnesota’s Marek Zidlicky. It looks as if his finger is broken and will more than likely need surgery.

Photos © 2009 Cheryl Nichols. All Rights Reserved.

In other news, it looks like Alex Ovechkin may be on his way back to the ice. He’s not played since November 1st with a upper-body issue; however, he’s been practicing with the team this week and may return over within the week.

The timetable for Ovechkin’s return is undetermined.
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SCORESHEET

1ST PERIOD
None.

2ND PERIOD
01:31 NJ - C. Clutterbuck (4), Slap Shot.  Assists: B. Burns and K. Brodziak.
5:39 WAS - [Power play] M. Green (3), Slap Shot.  Assists: T. Fleischmann and B. Morrison.

3RD PERIOD
02:00 WAS Brian Pothier (2), Snap Shot.  Assists: M. Perreault and E. Fehr.
19:23 WAS [Empty Net] Brooks Laich  (8), Wrist Shot.  Unassisted.
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THREE STARS

1. J. Harding - MIN (Saves: 38, Save Pct.: .950)

2. B. Pothier - WAS (Goals: 1, Assists: 0)

3. T. Fleischmann - WAS (Goals: 0, Assists: 1)

Minnesota Wild (7-10-1, 15 points, 5th in Northwest Division)

v.

Washington Capitals (11-3-4, 26 points, 1st in Southeast Division)

7:00 at Verizon Center

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PREVIEW

The Washington Capitals host the Minnesota Wild on Friday the 13th for the much anticipated match up of Cap Center Nicklas Backstrom vs. Wild Goalie Niklas Backstrom.

Alex Ovechkin was hoping to be back on the ice on Friday night, however, it sounds like he needs a couple more days.  Caps Insider explains that Ovi is getting closer.

Jeff Schultz is a game-time decision. 

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LEADERS

WAS: G: Ovechkin (14) A: Backstrom (18) P: Ovechkin (22) +/-: Ovechkin (+8)

MIN: G: Koivu (5) A:  Koivu (11)  P: Koivu (16)  +/-: Shane Hnidy (0)

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INJURIES

WAS: LW Alex Ovechkin (IR-Upper body), D Jeff Schultz (Q-Lower body), F Boyd Gordon (DTD-back)
MIN: C Pierre-Marc Bouchard (IR-Head), RW Petr Sykora (OUT-Concussion)

BOXSCORE//GAME SUMMARY//EVENT SUMMARY//SHOOTOUT DETAILS

**Interesting to note that the number 11 was an important number in DC sports today.  Earlier on Wedneday, the Washington Nationals' made history when Ryan Zimmerman (#11) won the NL 3B Gold Glove which is the first Gold Glove for the Nationals.  Then tonight, the Caps won their eleventh in an eleven round shootout.  Both of these took place on the eleventh day of the eleventh month.**

Washington, DC -- The Washington Capitals hosted the New York Islanders on a cold and rainy night, but made the night very exciting with a 5-4 win in an eleven round shootout.  Winning goal was scored by Captain Chris Clark.

Alex Semin is back and didn't waste any time getting things started.   Eight seconds in (and tying a franchise record for fastest goal to start a game), Semin scored with a rocket slap shot after Morrison won the draw.  Semin scored twice in regulation and again in the shootout.  Caps Coach Bruce Boudreau said, "He looked like he wanted to play.  And when he wants to play, he could have had six. He's scary good when he's motivated. There's the good and the bad -- the goal, the giveaway, the miss."

The Islanders quickly responded with a Matt Moulson goal at 1:02.  New York scored another two goals so had three unanswered goals in less than seven minutes of the first period.  The game was on pace for a football score.

Jose Theodore was pulled at 6:54 after the three Islander goals and replaced by Semyon Varlamov.  

"I don’t like to do that,” said Coach Boudreau of pulling Theodore, “especially so early, but he looked a little rattled and he looked a little down. It’s not like pulling him when the game is out of reach, we had so much time left. The last time he was pulled Varly came in and shut the door, so I thought he would be able to do it again. Theo has played so well for us and he had a rough outing and he’ll come back this week and play another game and he’ll be great for us.”

Tomas Fleischmann scored on a power play at the end of the first period. The second period had only two goals and both were by Caps including Semin's second goal of the night to tie the game at three. With only 3:08 left in second, Eric Fehr became the tenth Cap to score in the four games where Ovechkin has been sidelined. "Good teams have guys pick it up," Boudreau said. "But by no means do we not miss him."

Varlamov shut down the Islanders until Trent Hunter scored on a power play with only 2:08 left in regulation to tie it up at four.  "We can't stand prosperity," Boudreau said. "We go penalty-less for two periods, then we take three in the third."

After a scoreless overtime, Varlamov yielded only one goal in the shootout by Jeff Tambellini which was on the Islanders' first attempt. Varly made several fantastic saves in the shootout, however, the highlight was in Hunter's 9th round shot which Varly stopped with his pads, then used his arms to grab the crossbar to stop from sliding into the goal with the puck in his pads. "I was just skating back into the goal very fast," he said through an interpreter. "I just grabbed the first thing I could to stop my movement into the net."

It took eleven rounds of the shootout before Captain Chris Clark beat Roloson to give the Caps the win.

Varlavmov earned the number one star of the game as well as the Hardhat for his 25 saves and .962 Save Pct:.
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SCORESHEET

1ST PERIOD
00:08 Alex Semin (8), Slap Shot. Assist: B Morrison
01:02 Matt Moulson (8), Wrist Shot. Assist: Streit
05:10 Mark Streit (3), Slap Shot. Assist: Gervais, Schremp
06:54 Sean Bergenheim (2), Backhand. Unassisted.
13:42 Power Play -Tomas Fleischmann (6), Slap Shot. Assist: Backstrom, Knuble

2ND PERIOD
05:35 Power Play -Alex Semin (9), Snap Shot. Assist: Green
16:46 Eric Fehr (2), Backhand. Assist: Clark, Green

3RD PERIOD
17:52 Power Play - Trent Hunter (2), Slap Shot. Assist: Tavares, Nielsen

OT
None

SHOOTOUT

NYI: Tambellini (Round 1), Wrist Shot
WAS: Semin (Round 2), Backhand and Clark (Round 12), Snap
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THREE STARS

1. S. Varlamov - WAS (Saves: 25, Save Pct: .962)

2. A. Semin - WAS (Goals: 2, Assists: 0)

3. M. Streit - NYI (Goals: 1, Assists: 1)

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Photos © 2009 Cheryl Nichols. All Rights Reserved.

Michael Nylander has cleared waivers.  There are several sources reporting that he is heading to Russia, however, we have not seen confirmation.

Tarik tweeted about 1:15pm today that the "Caps say they don't expect an update on Michael Nylander's status today."

Photo © 2008 Cheryl Nichols

BOX SCORE//GAME SUMMARY//EVENT SUMMARY

The Washington Capitals, looking for someone to provide a spark in the absence of two-time defending Hart Trophy winner Alex Ovechkin, got the complete opposite last night in a 3-2 loss to the New Jersey Devils (9-4-0).

Four third period penalties proved costly, as the Devils netted two power play goals, and held on to give the Caps (8-3-4) their third loss in a row, though just their third regulation loss of the season.

Coach Bruce Boudreau expressed his frustation to the media after the game, "Guys didn't come to play," Boudreau said. "Whether they are feeling sorry for themselves because Alex is not in, I don't know."

In particular, Alex Semin -- the one player on this roster that has talent that can approach the "Great 8" -- looked completely lost.  In addition to ineffective play, he took three penalties total, and two of the four third period infractions that kept the Caps on their heels instead of attacking.

Semin had as many penalties as shots.

Nine seconds after Semin went to the box for a hook, Niclas Bergfors (two power play goals) put a slap shot behind Semyon Varlamov (29 saves) for break a 1-1 tie.  So instead of stepping up, Semin let his team down, and Boudreau was cognizant of it.

"Not only did some of them not stand out, but they cost us the game," Boudreau said. "It's a tough one to swallow."

"They're automatic penalties," said Boudreau, of the third period mistakes. "If you go behind the net and you put your stick on a guy you're going to get a penalty. Brendan Morrison has been in the league for 10 years. Alexander Semin has been in the league for five years and it's just dumb penalties."

Tyler Sloan (1) and Tomas Fleischmann (3) tallied for the Caps.  Mathieu Perrault, making his NHL debut, assisted on both goals in just 10:30 of ice time.

But the theme of last night's game was lazy, ineffective play, something the Caps are not going to get away with while their goal-per-game superstar mends from his upper body injury, believed to be a left shoulder strain.

"We need to take leadership and take ownership of the dumb things we're doing," said Washington forward Mike Knuble, who has now taken a foul in the third period the last two games. "We have to stop it."

None of Washington's "Young Guns" played particularly well Wednesday night.  Semin, Nicklas Backstrom and Mike Green were all held without a point, and Green even deflected one of the New Jersey goals into his own net.

What might be the most troubling comment of all came from veteran New Jersey goalie Martin Brodeur, when asked about the Caps missing Ovechkin.  "The excitement level that he brings, the energy that he brings to the table, that wasn't there.  You can tell."

"You can tell."  Not words that Bruce Boudreau wants to hear.

Washington gets a day to think about it as they travel to Florida for the first of a home-and-home with the Panthers this weekend.

They better hope Ovechkin proves to be a fast healer, as he has in the past.  If Wednesday night was any indication, this team needs Ovechkin more than they anyone realizes.