Following two five-goal losses in the past three games, the Washington Capitals decided that they need to make a change. They need to find some spark.
The change is the return of Semyon Varlamov in goal tonight against the Carolina Hurricanes. Will he be the spark also? We'll find out in 60 minutes.
According to Mike Vogel of WashingtonCaps.com, Bruce Boudreau hopes the two big losses were nothing more than an anomaly.
"I think it’s safe to say that in games against Atlanta and [New Jersey Monday] night, the first periods – for whatever reason – they came out sleeping," says Caps coach Bruce Boudreau of his team's performance in its two most recent road games. "That has to get better. More times than not, our work ethic is more than fine. We’ve outworked teams a lot of times and that’s why we’ve been successful with four lines working.
"I’m hoping it’s an anomaly. You don’t like to say every team goes through it, because then that puts you in an excuse mode. But it’s something that’s new to us, and we just have to deal with it."
The Capitals defeated the Hurricanes 3-0 when they last played in Raleigh just under a month ago. Will they have as much luck tonight?