Caps defenseman Mike Green slid along the ice to block a shot by Rangers defenseman Matt Gilroy and absorbed the puck with the side of his head.

He left the game with 6:11 remaining in the first period following the block and did not return for the start of the second period.

However, he returned to the Capitals' bench about halfway through the second period.

Green missed the last 20 games of the regular season with concussion issues. The shot by Gilroy appeared to hit Green in the helmet/visor. There was no blood on the ice after the play, a good sign Green avoided serious injury.

But with Green's concussion history, any sort of contact with his head has an added importance.

Green scored the series' first first-period goal at 5:59 of the first period to put the Caps ahead 1-0. Green has a point in all four games of this series.

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ARLINGTON, Va. -- Mike Knuble skated before Washington Capitals practice on Thursday, but when he might return for the team remains to be determined.

Knuble missed Game 4 of Washington's Eastern Conference quarterfinal series with an unspecified injury, but it is believed to be a problem with his right hand/wrist. He was hit by a Mike Green shot during Game 3 and after scoring a goal seconds later, immediately took off his glove to check on his hand/wrist before celebrating.

"I call myself day-to-day," Knuble told reporters who were asked by a team representative not to ask questions about the specifics of his injury. "You've got to do your best to stay in shape and keep your conditioning or whatever.

"[Game 5] is up in the air -- we won't know until tomorrow or maybe even Saturday morning, Saturday game time."

Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau also said Knuble is day-to-day. He was the team's third-leading goal scorer in the regular season with 24.

Knuble did not practice with the team for the two days leading up Game 4, and he confirmed that he didn't travel with the team to New York for the contest.

"I find myself watching the clock all day and trying to be home at the right time, trying to make sure I have my DVR set so I don't miss anything," Knuble said. "Just a weird feeling -- missing a playoff game, watching your team play is much different than missing games in the regular season. It's really hard to go through. Obviously, I was as low as they felt last night and as high as they were after, too."

GREENBURGH, N.Y. -- Washington Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau told a radio station Monday that he felt the New York Rangers were targeting the head of defenseman Mike Green, who battled concussion problems and sat the final 20 games of the regular season.

Boudreau said Rangers defenseman Marc Staal delivered a blow to the head of Green just before Washington's Mike Knuble tied the score at 2-2 late in third period of Sunday's Game 3 at Madison Square Garden. There was no penalty on the play and there was no punishment for the hit handed down by the League.

On Tuesday, Rangers coach John Tortorella responded to those comments.

"We have confidence in the League, we have confidence in the officials that they won't be influenced by all the whining going on here right now," Tortorella said. "We're staying away from it. Our mindset is just focusing on what we need to do, how we play, play the right way, and get ready for Game 4. That's our main focus.

"Again, we have confidence in the League that this doesn't affect the series. It's a pretty good series between two pretty good teams going at it pretty hard."

Another day, another set of lines: The Rangers unveiled new lines at practice Tuesday, and if they hold to form, this is what the Capitals will be facing Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden:

Prospal-Dubinsky-Gaborik
Fedotenko-Anisimov-Stepan
Avery-Boyle-Prust
Wolski-Christensen-Drury

The changes are with the top two lines. Basically, Ruslan Fedotenko and Vinny Prospal traded positions. The defense pairings are unchanged, although Bryan McCabe will be sporting a wicked new mustache when he takes the ice, joining Boyle and Dubinsky among those with mustaches on the roster.

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Mike Knuble did not practice for the second straight day, but Washington Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau said he expects the 38-year-old forward to play Wednesday in Game 4 at Madison Square Garden against the New York Rangers.

Boudreau called it a maintenance day for Knuble. When asked if it was related to Knuble looking at his hand of scoring Washington's second goal Sunday, Boudreau replied, "That's why it is called a maintenance day."

Knuble has spent most of the past two seasons on the team's top line with Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom. He was third on the team with 24 goals in the regular season -- his eighth straight campaign with more than 20 goals.

"He's a big part of our game and if he's out, it is a big loss," Marco Sturm said. "I think we played pretty good all year when guys are out – guys are jumping in. everyone has to do their job there and work maybe a little bit harder."

Jason Chimera replace Knuble on the top line for practice Tuesday, while Eric Fehr and Jay Beagle both rotated in on the third line. It is possible Fehr or Beagle could play and Chimera could be a healthy scratch if Knuble is indeed going to play, but Chimera is the only player not among the top six forwards who has a goal in this series.

Fehr said he "has no idea" if he's going to play or not after being a healthy scratch the first two games. He was one of the team's most effective forwards against Montreal last postseason, finishing third on the team with three goals.

"He's coming on the trip so there's a chance," Boudreau said of Fehr's chances of playing.

Michal Neuvirth handled the pressure of his first NHL postseason start very well. Now the Washington Capitals will find out how their 23-year-old rookie bounces back from his first NHL postseason defeat.

Neuvirth made 32 saves in a 3-2 loss Sunday to the New York Rangers in Game 3 of this Eastern Conference quarterfinal series. He has still only allowed four goals in nearly 10 periods of postseason hockey, but the Capitals will need a strong performance from him again if the Rangers carry momentum from their victory into Game 4 on Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden.

"He allowed the one goal [to Vinny Prospal]," Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau said. "I thought the [Erik] Christensen goal there wasn't much he could do and the third goal, it bounces off two of our guys and into the net. They had 35 shots so I think he was pretty stellar for the most part. I think he's handling this tremendously. He's calm as a cucumber."

Part of "this" Boudreau was alluding to was how the Rangers have ratcheted up their presence in front of and around Neuvirth's crease. Christensen was called for goaltender interference near the end of the second period, but there were several other times when Neuvirth had bodies in his way or on top of him during post-whistle scrums.

How players can protect their young goalie in those circumstances is a bit tricky.

"It is a double-edge sword, because if we start doing something we're going to start getting retaliation penalties, which is what you tell the guys not to do," Boudreau said. "You're hoping that they're being called. If it is not called, there is not much you can do without getting involved in 4-on-4 situations and taking guys out.

"Prospal went in there. [Sean] Avery fell into him. [Brandon] Prust went into him on purpose and wasn't called. They're doing all of that stuff to try and get him off his game, but the good thing about Michal is it doesn't seem to effect him. It is there and we have to protect the goalies -- both the team and the officials."

The schedule is a little quirky in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series between the Rangers and Capitals. The teams are receiving two days of rest between Sunday's Game 3 and Wednesday's Game 4 and will get two more days off before Saturday afternoon's Game 5 back in D.C.

Rangers coach John Tortorella doesn't consider it ideal, but he believes it can be used to as a positive.

"I know if you ask me personally, I'd rather play every other day," Tortorella said. "You need to try to find the best way to use it. And we have our process we'll go through. Players want to play, but we can't do nothing about it, so we'll go about our business.

"You get some rest. It depends on what guys are nicked up, if any. We're pretty healthy mentally, pretty healthy physically. You try to turn it into a positive. It's the schedule and you go about your business."

Players were mostly indifferent about the extra rest. Would they prefer to play Tuesday night? Sure, but it's not that big a deal to them.

"It gives us a little rest, and that's good too," forward Ruslan Fedotenko said. "I go with the flow. Day between, that's great. Two days between, that's good too. I'm not thinking too much. Just regroup and get ready for the next game."

Power play woes: Even with a goal by Erik Christensen in Sunday's win, Tortorella didn't see much difference in the struggling power play.

"Erik scores a big goal for us, but we've got some work to do," Tortorella said.

Tortorella was asked what was better about the power play, besides the fact they scored.

"Not too much," Tortorella said. "We scored a goal. That's what's better."

The Rangers are 2-for-38 in their last 13 games and 1-for-11 in the series with the Caps on the power play.

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NEW YORK -- It's a shot few players can make, and Erik Christensen made it.

He held the puck near the goal-line in the right-wing corner, unharrassed by Capitals defenders. Realizing he had an opening to shoot, he took it and fired a perfect wrist shot through the smallest of openings over the shoulder of Caps goaltender Michal Neuvirth to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead early in the second period.

"I just picked my head up quick and tried to surprise him," Christensen said. "It was a sharp angle and (Derek Stepan was right in front and said he heard it whizzing by his head. I wanted to put something on the net and found no one was challenging me, so I figure any shot's a good shot. I look over and he's kind of going down low, maybe expecting I'm going to throw it across the street. In the end I tried to whip it at him and fortunately it hit the spot."

On a team that doesn't have many skilled offensive players, Christensen is one of them. Coach John Tortorella has said Christensen is capable of scoring goals like that, and on Sunday he proved him right.

"I think he knows I'm capable of scoring that goal," Christensen said. "He'd like to see it more often. Whether I'm playing a lot or playing a little, I'll always be ready. As of late, 5-on-5 ice time has dropped. So I have to make sure when I'm on that power play, I make the most of it. It keeps me on the power play."

Christensen had 9:03 of ice time Sunday, 4:30 of which came on the power play. Christensen averaged 12:45 of ice time during the regular season, 2:07 of which came on the power play.

Referee leaves with injury: It was a day to forget for the referees at Madison Square Garden, and it had nothing to do with calls on the ice.

During the first period, referee Tim Peel was hit with a slap shot. He was able to stay in the game, but fellow referee Chris Rooney wasn't so lucky. He suffered a broken ankle after tripping over the Washington Capitals net during the second period and had to leave the game.

He was tended to by the Rangers training staff, but eventually limped to the dressing room. Players were allowed to leave their benches and stretch their legs during the 10-minute delay while standby official Frederick L'Ecuyer limbered up and took over for Rooney.

L'Ecuyer got through the rest of the game unharmed.

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NEW YORK -- Rangers coach John Tortorella met with the media about two hours before Sunday afternoon's Game 3. He didn't reveal specifics of his lineup, but said the same personnel would be employed agains the Capitals. Steven Eminger and Mats Zuccarello will be scratched.

He also touched on how his young players are handling their first Stanley Cup Playoffs, the energy of the home crowd, and the importance of getting a break and scoring a goal.

Q: Do you think the other team's been taking real care to hit Staal all the time?

Tortorella: I'd do it. That's part of playoff hockey.

Q: Is there any way to slow it down?

Tortorella: No. That's part of playoff hockey. We're trying to do the same thing with some of their people. I thought the second game was more physical than the first. You have to play through it. Especially with the new rules, they're targets. You can't hold up. Teams play that way. They try to put it into areas and bang. Do we want our guys hit? No. But I think it's the responsibility of the players also if they can get away from it, get away from it. But you still have to make a play. That's part of winning in playoff hockey. It's taking a hit to make a play.

Q: When you're having trouble scoring, is the first goal more magnified today?

Tortorella: I'm not going to get into magnifying, back up against the wall, that stuff. We're going to play. We know what we have to do, and we're going to try and play.

Q: From Game 1 to Game 2, especially with some of your young guys, did you see a maturation from that first NHL playoff experience? Maybe McDonagh and Sauer in particular. Could you see growth in a short period of time?

Tortorella: I think those two have right from the get-go have just…it's really encouraging. I looked at McDonagh and I think he has to go through a little process where -- it shouldn't have been a penalty -- but that's going to happen.  You can't take a risk. If you're not playing between the whistles, you're taking a risk. I think he'll learn there. But the way he's handled himself, I think he's got some fight to him. You can just see his attitude. I think he has the right attitude. Michael Sauer, the same thing. They've been two of our best as far as handling their first situation. I felt Step played better. Artie Anisimov…you know, I think there is some nerves. But I think as each game goes by, they are getting better. Now it's a new animal coming into MSG here, home building. I'm anxious to see how they react. This is all part of the process of building a team. So I'm glad we're here, and I think we will be better as we keep on going through the series.

Q: Are there parts of their game you can see per shift, per period, per game? I know it's early, but the seeing of it from where you stand.

Tortorella: Improving?

Q: Yeah.

Tortorella: I'll go to Artie because he just sticks out. I thought he really struggled at times and then in the second half of Game 2, he started being more physical. He just seemed more involved. He's an important guy for us. He's a young man that has been given quite a bit of responsibility as a center ice man on this team. I just saw him start growing a little bit in understanding that your game comes in when you start getting around the puck and hitting people. It's very important for Step, also. Step has gone through not a lot of downs, a couple downs early in the season, but once he started getting involved with the body, his game follows behind it. It always is. I think they're improving. I think they'll be…I'm looking forward to them today. Not only those guys, but I think our team is really ready to jump in here and try to grab some momentum.

Q: How do you get to the inside a little bit more? Will this building change things? How can you get your team to the inside to the net?

Tortorella: That's a willingness. It doesn't matter which building. You can be out on the pond playing. It's a matter of trying to get there. It's a matter of trying to funnel shots there to allow people to get there. The series is 2-0, but it's been, at least from my standpoint, either way, it could change. It changes. I think at times, I think we've defended pretty well. Our biggest key is just to get something good to happen for us offensively. I look at their second goal the other night, which was a huge goal. We're defending their power play the right way. It deflects off of Gilroy's skate and right onto Arnott's stick, and he buries it. That's a huge goal. I'm hoping something like that happens for us. Because we're not far off. They can't win the series today, we can't win the series today. But we can grab some momentum. And I think that's the most important thing when you're involved in a series, is trying to get some momentum on your side.

Q: When you look at home-ice advantage, how much of it do you think is the ability to match up as you want, and how much of it is the energy in the building?

Tortorella: You know, the matchups, for me, they're a little overfplayed. They're going to get their matchups. If they want to get their two young defensemen against Gaborik, they'll get'em, if they really work hard at it. We did the same thing with Staal and Girardi. I know we like to talk a lot about those matchups, but as far we're concerned, energy is a very important thing. But you have to be really careful when you come into your home building. You need to have some discipline too. You need to control it, also. I don't need to speak to the team about playing with energy today. It's not happening. I thought after Game 1, we didn't have enough energy. I don't think we had enough jam. Game 2, we were better.  I won't have to talk about that today. It's a matter of keeping it under control because you can't put yourself in a bad spot and allow a power-play goal to hurt you.

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Nicklas Backstrom and Jason Arnott switched places in the middle of the top two lines for the Washington Capitals at practice Saturday. Bruce Boudreau downplayed the move, blaming a wardrobe malfunction, but his past history suggests otherwise.

Arnott was between Alex Ovechkin and Mike Knuble on the team's top line for practice at Kettler Capitals Iceplex while Backstrom skated between Marco Sturm and Alexander Semin.

"Actually, they just put on the wrong jerseys so I left them out there for practice," Boudreau said. "I could have changed it, but I knew we were only doing one drill that anything to do with it, so I just left it."

Boudreau has dropped the "wrong jersey" rationale a few times during his tenure as Capitals coach. He's also used the term "just wanted to see what it looked like" when he switches lines around. The deal is this: when Boudreau tries to downplay a line change, it has almost always ended up happening for the next game.

If Backstrom is not skating with the second line against the New York Rangers for Game 3 on Sunday at Madison Square, it might be the first time Boudreau was speaking the truth on the "wrong jersey" rationale since he became the team's coach in November 2007.

"It doesn't matter I think who we play with," Backstrom said. "There are such good players on this team. It is up to the coach to decide who we play with."

This is nothing new for Backstrom -- Boudreau has dropped him to the second line to play with Semin on several occasions during the postseason in the previous three years. Those two combined to have a great series against Philadelphia in 2008, carrying the Washington offense as the Capitals rallied to force Game 7 after being down 3-1.

It worked pretty well again against the Rangers in 2009. Both years Backstrom was switching places with Sergei Fedorov. Now Boudreau has another dependable veteran in Arnott who he can put with Ovechkin and force John Tortorella to decide which duo he wants to put Marc Staal and Dan Girardi on the ice against.

Tortorella has the last change but the choice between deploying his top pairing against Ovechkin or Backstrom/Semin is not an easy one. That is, of course, if Boudreau follows through and makes the switch for the start of Game 3.

"Yeah, I am [used to it]," Backstrom said. "It is nothing wrong with it. Sometimes you have to I guess. ... They're both good players. I just play where coach tells me to."