BALLSTON, Va. - The Washington Capitals held an optional morning skate and all but five players took their option. Mathieu Perreault, Cody Eakin, Jeff Schultz, Michal Neuvirth and Alexander Semin skated for about 25 minutes in preparation for the second of back-to-back games against the New Jersey Devils.
Semin's presence would normally come as a surprise, but after he spent the entire third period on the bench, head coach Bruce Boudreau considered it a good sign.
"It's good," Boudreau said. "We'll see how it works out tonight."
Meanwhile, Boudreau ruled out Mike Green for Saturday's game after he suffered an apparent lower-body injury during the first period Friday. Green missed almost three weeks with a twisted right ankle and made his return Friday before Ryan Carter made what looked like knee-to-knee contact during a collision along the boards. Green attempted to return in the second period, but ultimately went back to the locker room for the rest of the game.
"He's not playing tonight," Boudreau said. "Right now, it's bad luck. Hopefully, when you play really hard like he does, sometimes you go through spots like this and then you end up going the next seven years without missing a game, so hopefully that's what happens to him."
Boudreau, however, did not commit to which goaltender would start tonight. When asked, Boudreau praised Tomas Vokoun for his performance Friday, saying that "Tomas played pretty good last night."