While this afternoon’s Game of the Week between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals might have been a preview of a possible first round series, it was also an example of two teams fighting tough injuries. Sure, the Penguins received the most attention for missing Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, but the Capitals weren’t at full strength either. They lost Mike Green after the first period and have been skating without sniper Alex Semin for quite some time.
Mike Milbury and Pierre McGuire discussed two other teams that are persevering quite nicely despite some serious injury issues: the New York Rangers and Detroit Red Wings.
Milbury points out that one thing the Rangers can count on is the exemplary goaltending of Henrik Lundqvist.
Unfortunately, Milbury points out that the Red Wings are dealing with the declining netminding of Jimmy Howard. Howard received plenty of Calder Trophy attention last season thanks to his breakout year and was playing pretty well for a chunk of the 2010-11 season, but his play has been going downhill for months now. Perhaps the biggest blow to his confidence came when the team attempted to acquire Evgeni Nabokov, something Mike and Pierre discuss in the video below.
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