Last week, Alex Ovechkin skated himself off the ice with an upper body injury. It looks like the injury is somewhat minor and he won’t be out for an extended period of time.

However, what I’m interested to see is how well the Caps play without him. Tonight’s game against New Jersey is going to be a big test for Washington. It will show us what happens when their best player is sidelined.

Different Strategy

Obviously, the Caps are going to have to create a different strategy for the game tonight.

They could actually use this injury to their advantage. They have to make a new strategy, and the Devils won’t know what that strategy is.

Any tapes that the Devils have watched of Ovechkin, strategies they’ve made to counter Ovechkin don’t make a difference now.

Yes, Ovechkin has been out since Sunday and the Devils have had time to adjust, but, at that time, there was a good possibility that Ovi would be in the lineup for this game.

It didn’t turn out to be like that, but the Devils still have to be unsure about what strategy the Caps are going to use against them.

What Else can the Caps Do?

The Caps have another weapon in Alex Semin. I saw a post called the Stand in Savior from On Frozen Blog.

The article talked about how Semin could end up being like Malkin. Malking was hidden under the shadow of Crosby until Crosby was injured. This could be an opportunity for Semin to do the same.

The article talks a little bit more about what the Caps can do and I’d encourage you to check it out.

Another post from penaltykill.net called “Ovechkinless” talked about the lines that the Caps would have to use tonight.

It talked about a line with Backstrom, Knuble, and Semin.

The interesting thing about this is that these are the 3 other best players in Washington. If this happens, then the Caps will be relying on their first line while Ovechkin is gone. They would not be moving around their best players.

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