By Tarik El-Bashir
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, December 7, 2007

The Washington Capitals hoped a five-day break between games would allow them to regroup after a hectic schedule that included a coaching change and, just as important, to get healthy.

They accomplished one of their two goals.

When the Capitals make their first visit to Prudential Center, the New Jersey Devils' sparkling new arena in downtown Newark tonight, the team will be more familiar with the intricacies of interim coach Bruce Boudreau's style of play. But they'll be far from healthy with veteran center Michael Nylander joining the list of injured players yesterday.

"It is what it is," Boudreau said, shrugging, when asked about the injury situation. "If somebody is out, someone has to come in and be just as good as that guy."

The Capitals, who remain at the bottom of the league with 20 points in 27 games, did not announce whether a player had been recalled from the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League to replace Nylander. But with only 11 healthy forwards, it appeared likely that someone would join them in time for the pregame skate.

What exactly happened to Nylander also remained a mystery.

Team officials declined to divulge the nature or severity of the injury to the 35-year-old Swede, who ranks second on the team in scoring (25 points) and first in assists (18). Officials also declined to disclose when Nylander got hurt or how long he will miss.

He participated fully in Wednesday's practice session and joked with teammates in the locker room after the session. Only when reporters asked why Nylander wasn't on the ice at Kettler Capitals Iceplex for practice yesterday was it revealed that he had been hurt and would not play against the Devils.

Nylander joins right wing Chris Clark and center Boyd Gordon on the sideline. Clark, who is third in goals with five, is expected to miss his third consecutive game tonight because of a strained groin muscle. Gordon, meantime, has been placed on injured reserve because of a broken right hand and will probably miss several weeks.

Although Clark skated on his own yesterday, it's possible, if not likely, that he and Nylander will also miss tomorrow night's home game against the Atlanta Thrashers.

If a player is recalled today, it's expected that Clark will join Gordon on injured reserve in order to clear room. The move, though, likely would be made retroactive to Nov. 28, meaning he would be eligible to come off at any time.

Boudreau had hoped to have his full complement of players during this extended break between games because it gave him some time to install his forechecking system, work on defensive zone coverage and tweak the power play and penalty kill. Until Sunday, the former Bears coach had presided over only three full practices after taking over behind the Capitals' bench on Thanksgiving.

"They are getting the idea on the power play, they know the neutral zone, we did the end zone yesterday," said Boudreau, who has a 3-2-1 record. "Granted we didn't have everybody, but at least the majority know better today what's going on than they did last week."

What the players don't know is how the lineup is going to shape up against New Jersey, the NHL's hottest team.

The Devils have won eight straight games behind left wing Zach Parise (14 goals, 32 points) and goaltender Martin Brodeur (2.31 goals against average). On Wednesday, they rallied from a three-goal deficit to beat the Boston Bruins, 4-3, in overtime and move into a three-way tie for the Atlantic Division lead with the New York Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers.

"They really believe right now," Boudreau said of the Devils. "They've always been an elite team. So you had to know that it was only a matter of time."

Note: Hershey Bears defenseman Jame Pollock has left the team and signed a contract with CSKA Moscow of the Russian Super League. The Capitals, Hershey's parent team, suspended the 28-year-old without pay yesterday.