Remember the other day when it appeared that Caps defenseman Mike Green was angling to come back from a concussion to play in Washington’s final game against Florida today?
Yeah... About that.
Mike Green didn’t make the trip to Florida with the team and he will not play tonight against the Panthers.
The Caps are going into the playoffs as the number one seed in the East and they’ve been able to ascend the standings thanks to great play down the stretch and the Flyers tumbling back to earth. They’ve been able to do it of late without Green though as he’s missed the last 20 games and will miss his 21st straight game tonight.
Now the Caps will have to worry about whether or not they’ll see Green come back in time to start the playoffs this week. He has been working hard to get back on the ice, but as we’ve seen with other players who have been dealing with concussions, if they’re not ready to go it’s better to err on the side of caution.
While you could reason that the Caps could escape the first round without Green’s help, their chances of winning the Stanley Cup without him aren’t as good. When he’s ready to go, the Caps will be better off... Whenever that happens.