Here's Johnny (Again)

Brent Johnson will start in goal tonight against the Rangers. It would be an understatement to say that Johnny has played well in his last two starts. He has been on fire and is largely responsible for the three points the Caps have earned in two games. Boudreau has apparently decided to go with the hot hand in net for the foreseeable future. The Caps need another stellar performance from Johnson.

Boudreau has also been forced to change the lineup for tonight's game. Injuries to Sergei Fedorov, Shaone Morrisonn, and captain Chris Clark have made it necessary to call up Tyler Sloan from Hershey and dress both David Steckel and Eric Fehr. Fedorov is suffering from a lower body injury and Shaone Morrrisonn is out with a groin pull. The team is not saying much about Clark's status other than that he is not having trouble with his groin.

Tarik has posted the lines and defensive pairs. Notably, Semin will again skate with Ovechkin and the two will be centered by Backstrom. Tyler Sloan will be paired with Tom Poti.

The Caps need to come out of the gate firing on all cylinders. The team looked lazy and unfocused during the first half of Thursday's game. The team may not be so fortunate against the Rangers and star goaltender Henrik Lundqvist if they don't play solid defense and generate early scoring chances. The forecheck is probably the main key to their success and must set the tone early in the game.

Players to watch:

Nicklas Backstrom - Backstrom was impressive at the end of Thursday's game and was on the ice for the last two goals. If he turns in a similar performance with Ovechkin and Semin, the Caps should not have too much trouble scoring on Lundqvist. If he plays like the out of shape and slightly overweight center we have see far too often this year, the fans at Verizon center will have to suffer through another frustrating game.

Aaron Voros - Voros is a big solid winger who likes to go to the net. During Thursday's game against Tampa, Voros was a force in front of the net and rattled Tampa goaltnender Mike Smith. Smith took several penalties when he tried to chop Voros in half with his stick and the Rangers cruised to a 5-2 victory. Voros is apparently Sean Avery's replacement and he will certainly try to crowd Brent Johnson tonight. The Caps must do a good job of keeping him out of the crease or tieing him up.