As I expected, Grabovsky has been placed on the IR and with Casey Cizikas also on IR, a call-up from BPort was made. Say Hello again to Kael Mouillierat, Bridgeport’s point leader, who will make his NHL debut this afternoon against Alex Ovechkin. Great. Mouillierat played with Colin McDonald in Bport and will be on his line, so the comfort level should be there. Let’s hope the nerves are not.
The Isles are five points above the Capitals and can’t afford to lose any ground this afternoon. They’ll need a huge game from Jaro Halak (who it is assumed will be in net) as well as a big game from their penalty killers. Or – they could just try to stay out of the box and not give the Caps a chance to use that deadly power play of theirs.
Jared Clinton wrote for The Hockey News about the powerhouses of the Capitals: http://www.thehockeynews.com/blog/ovechkin-and-backstrom-the-two-headed-monster-powering-capitals/
“Ovechkin, one of the greatest goal scorers the league has ever seen does everything at top speed, with brute force and with a certain attitude that makes him loved by some, hated by others. He’s got the flair of a goal scorer cooked up by Hollywood and celebrates with jubilation unlike any other player in the league. Backstrom is the exact opposite. Calm, patient and doing everything while going seemingly unnoticed.Together, they form a formidable combination of speed, skill, brute force and deft hands and together, they’re picking apart the league. Really, truly, it is together, too.…
So, if that is the case, Travis Hamonic shouldn’t give Ovie an inch of space on the ice, you shouldn’t be able to even read the number on the back of his jersey.
And Ovie may be an angry man this afternoon. He had a beer thrown at him by a fan and he is all over the net for comments he made against Getzlaf calling him a diver. (But they are funny.) Also, they can’t let Backstrom have the puck either. But – they probably will.
So we’ll look toward a very exciting, nail biter of a game that we can only hope will end with two points for the Isles and a few goals for the hardworking, never quitting Isles.