The Capitals conducted a brief practice this afternoon at KCI, and among the notable absences was defenseman Tom Poti, who has been in and out of the lineup with a lower-body injury. Coach Bruce Boudreau indicated the move to hold him out was precautionary in advance of tomorrow's game against Carolina.

Poti played one of his most complete games of the season last night in a 6-0 victory over Tampa Bay, scoring the final goal and logging the second-most ice time on the team. He also helped the Capitals kill off a five-on-three penalty by blocking a shot even after he got cross-checked to the ice.

"We talk to him, and we make sure he does his off-ice stuff to keep his legs strong, and it's all maintenance with him," Boudreau said. "If it was a 7 o'clock game [tomorrow night], he would have taken today off and practiced tomorrow morning, but it's a 5 o'clock game after a game, and we didn't want to push it."

Meantime, defenseman Mike Green, who missed last night's game with an undisclosed ailment, participated fully in practice and said he would be in the lineup against the Hurricanes. Green missed three games earlier this season with what was believed to be a hurt shoulder.

With Green ready to come back into the lineup, the Capitals assigned Brian Fahey to Hershey. Fahey, 29, was in the locker room following practice gathering his belongings and saying goodbye for now to his teammates after collecting the first point of his NHL career last night. He has played in five games for the Capitals this season.