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GDT#61 Caps at Panthers Feb 22 at 7:30pm

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alta:
Feb. 22 vs. Florida Panthers at BB&T Center
Time: 7:30 p.m.
TV: NBC Sports Washington
Radio: FAN 106.7, Capitals Radio 24/7

Washington Capitals 34-19-7
Florida Panthers 26-25-6

anticipated lines:
Forwards
Alex Ovechkin 8 -Nicklas Backstrom 19 -Tom Wilson 43
Jakub Vrana 13 -Evgeny Kuznetsov 92 -T.J. Oshie 77
Brett Connolly 10 -Lars Eller 20 -Andre Burakovsky 65
Chandler Stephenson 18 -Jay Beagle 83 -Devante Smith-Pelly 25
Scratched: Alex Chiasson 39
Defensemen
Dmitry Orlov 9 -Matt Niskanen 2
Christian Djoos 29 -John Carlson 74
Brooks Orpik 44 -Michal Kempny 6
Scratched: Madison Bowey 22, Jakub Jerabek 28
Goaltenders
Braden Holtby 70 (starter)
Philipp Grubauer 31

REFEREES
Dave Jackson #8, Kendrick Nicholson #30
LINESMEN
Darren Gibbs #66, Trent Knorr #63

By Isabelle Khurshudyan February 22

Michal Kempny will get to wear a different uniform in his debut with the Washington Capitals on Thursday night. (Mark Zaleski/Associated Press)
SUNRISE, Fla. — The past two days have been baptism by fire for Michal Kempny. He arrived in Washington late Monday night. He met with coaches and watched video and started to get acquainted with the Capitals’ terminology Tuesday morning. Then he watched the game that night. His education continued Wednesday as the team traveled to Florida. On Thursday morning, Kempny joined his teammates for the morning skate. Finally, on Thursday night, he’ll play his first game with the team.“I’m really excited, so I don’t want to be nervous or something,” Kempny said. “You know, the first game with new team, new teammates, everything is new. But I don’t want to think about it too much. I don’t want to be under pressure or something. So, I just want to have some fun, and I want to help my teammates to win as much as I can. So, we’ll see.”The Capitals traded a third-round pick to Chicago for Kempny on Monday, and he’s expected to debut beside Brooks Orpik on the Capitals’ third pairing. With both players left-handed shots, Kempny will be on the right, and playing the off side is something he never did with the Blackhawks. It’s just another new experience.
“A lot of things here is new for me, and I think it takes a couple days, a couple games — I don’t know how long,” Kempny said. “I will do my best and have some fun. … Everything went really quick, but I have to deal with it. I’m going to be fine.”Kempny can take some comfort in not being the only new guy in the locker room going through a learning process. The Capitals acquired 26-year-old Jakub Jerabek from Montreal for a fifth-round pick Wednesday, and Kempny said he has already spoken to Jerabek, a fellow Czech whom he played with on the national team. Jerabek isn’t in Florida with the Capitals; he’s reporting to Washington and will join the team there Friday.
“Always it’s good to have in here some friends from our country, so it’s good, yeah,” Kempny said. “I think he’s excited.”

‘That’s on no one else but me’: After fourth straight loss, Braden Holtby shoulders blame

With Kempny playing on Thursday, rookie Madison Bowey will be a healthy scratch, and it’s unclear who will come out of the lineup when Jerabek joins the team, as there are eight defensemen on the roster. Jerabek has played in just 25 NHL games, and Kempny isn’t much more seasoned at this level with just 81 appearances. But both have experience playing in top European leagues, and they’re similar in their puck-moving, mobile style, which could help the Capitals after they’ve struggled to get the puck out of their own end. “We acquired [Jerabek] because our scouts and the people watching all of these games like him and his skill set and what he brings,” Coach Barry Trotz said. Anytime you get a new player, you’ve got to bring him in, especially with players who don’t have 10 years in the league and you don’t have a clear picture of what they are. You don’t have preconceived notions of what they bring. What I’ve found in the past is that some of the best deals we’ve made are these type of deals where a player is coming from an organization that he’s been in and out of the lineup, and he’s going to get put into a situation on another team, and all of a sudden he just excels.”

Devise:
Here we go new player. And I'm sorry it had to be said, Bowey needed to be scratched. I'm looking forward to seeing what this D Kempny can do, like I said in another thread some of the Chicago fans actually thought he was half decent, and despite not being the most physical player wasn't afraid of the physical play. While that may not be the grit we need it's still a heart upgrade on the back end as far as I'm concerned. I'd much rather a player who is at least willing to get dirty, even if they aren't as effective. See: Oshie, TJ. At least then you know they can keep up with the NHL pace in the playoffs and still be useful doing what they are known for, even if that is just offense.

DC_1908:

--- Quote from: Devise on Thursday February 22, 2018, 07:00:24 PM Eastern ---Here we go new player. And I'm sorry it had to be said, Bowey needed to be scratched. I'm looking forward to seeing what this D Kempny can do, like I said in another thread some of the Chicago fans actually thought he was half decent, and despite not being the most physical player wasn't afraid of the physical play. While that may not be the grit we need it's still a heart upgrade on the back end as far as I'm concerned. I'd much rather a player who is at least willing to get dirty, even if they aren't as effective. See: Oshie, TJ. At least then you know they can keep up with the NHL pace in the playoffs and still be useful doing what they are known for, even if that is just offense.

--- End quote ---
Agree as usual. . . I just always question that if it wasn’t for the Soshi Olympics, would theyv have traded for Oshie?




But that’s for another thread

Beaglefan2:
I’ll give Kempny the benefit of the doubt but GMBM has a horrible record on his moves with defenseman. Gleason was a stiff, and Shattenkirk was flat-out horrible. I never understood why Chorney didn’t get more time and I think it was a mistake to let him go.

DC_1908:

--- Quote from: Beaglefan2 on Thursday February 22, 2018, 07:32:37 PM Eastern ---I’ll give Kempny the benefit of the doubt but GMBM has a horrible record on his moves with defenseman. Gleason was a stiff, and Shattenkirk was flat-out horrible. I never understood why Chorney didn’t get more time and I think it was a mistake to let him go.

--- End quote ---
You give GMBetaMale more credit than I do . . .

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