The Capitals had one last practice today before they head to New York for a 3pm game tomorrow at Madison Square Garden.  The Caps have a 2-0 lead in the series and if they win tomorrow, they would put a strangle hold on the Rangers. 

The last time the Caps held a 2-0 lead in a series was in 2009 against Pittsburgh, a series they lost in seven games.  The Rangers have been down 2-0 in a series 20 times in their franchise history, they’ve only came back and won one of those series.  In 2009 the Caps were down 2-0 to the Rangers, losing both games at home, and rallied back to beat the Rangers in seven games.   

Even with the two victories, Capitals Head Coach Bruce Boudreau mixed up the lines a little bit today and moved Jason Arnott to the #1 line and Nicklas Backstrom to the #2 line.  The forward lines looked like this: 8-44-22, 18-19-28, 21-90-25, 26-15-10, 16-83-17.  After practice Boudreau played coy and said the reason he did it was, “Actually they just put on the wrong jersey’s so I left them out there for practice, how else could I say it?  I could’ve changed it, but I knew we were only doing one drill that had anything to do with it so, I just left them.”  All the Caps besides Dennis Wideman participated in the little over 20 minute practice.

For the second day in a row defenseman Dennis Wideman skated in a warm up suit, hat, gloves, stick and with a puck for about 15 minutes before practice as he tries to get closer to returning.  Yesterday Bruce Boudreau said he might be back in the first round if this series goes long or in the second round.  Wideman was released from the hospital on Monday after suffering a hematoma.

Bruce Boudreau Practice Audio

Alex Ovechkin Practice Audio

Mike Knuble Practice Audio 

Nicklas Backstrom Practice Audio

Michal Neuvirth Practice Audio

Karl Alzner Practice Audio

John Erskine Practice Audio

Sky Kerstein is 106.7 The FAN’s Capitals Beat Reporter and co-host of “Morning Skate” every Sunday from 9am-10am on 106.7 The FAN.  Also you can find video recaps of every Caps game and post-game interviews on www.1067thefandc.com.  You can get in touch with Sky on Facebook or via Twitter at www.twitter.com/SkyKerstein.