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Carolina Hurricanes at Washington Capitals
October 5, 2014 - 3:00 pm ET
Verizon Center - Washington, DC
Radio - 99.9 FM The Fan | TV - NHL Network
SB Nation Rival Blog - Japers' Rink
Every other NHL team closed out yesterday, so the Canes and Caps officially put the wrap on the 2014-15 preseason in this afternoon's matchup. This one will be televised on NHL Network, so if your favorite football team is losing, you might want to flip the dial.
The Hurricanes aren't on the schedule to practice before today's game, and yesterday's practice was closed to the public (reserved perk for early-bird season ticket holders). Without a lot of press from yesterday's event, here's what is known regarding today's line-up (most from Chip Alexander's column in the N&O):
- Patrick Brown was assigned to the Charlotte Checkers yesterday, bringing the roster to 24.
- Head coach Bill Peters said in Friday's post-game that he intended to keep Chad LaRose in the lineup barring any further disciplinary action for his boarding call on Josh Gorges (as of this morning there has been no further action reported).
- Chris Terry and John-Michael Liles are expected to be back in the line-up, still to be determined if Brett Bellemore will play.
- Anton Khudobin will man the crease.
In semi-related roster news, Peters had some interesting comments about the vacancies at alternate captain:
Peters says Canes probably will have one permanent alternate captain and two others that rotate. Semin in mix to have an 'A' Peters says.
— Chip Alexander (@ice_chip) October 4, 2014
It's obvious Peters wants Semin to take ownership in this team. He's letting Semin know it, and in more ways than giving him an A.
— Chip Alexander (@ice_chip) October 4, 2014
It might be worth a watch to see if Sasha wears a letter again today in front of his former team.
Speaking of the Capitals, there are not a lot of specifics known with regard to today's line-up (Caps.com and WaPo). They are 4-3-0 in preseason play and undefeated at home. Canes fans will get a first look at Barry Trotz behind the bench for the Caps along with high profile prospects Andre Burakovsky and Evgeny Kuznetsov. The Capitals have a number of injuries, and their roster is at 26 so there are more positions left to trim. Caps beat writer Alex Prewitt provides a good speculation as to what the line-up might look like come opening night (WaPo).
Don't forget the early game time. We'll have the open game thread ready to roll by 2:30 pm.