"Coach Bruce Boudreau confirmed that Tomas Vokoun will start for the Capitals on Thursday night in Pittsburgh. It's not a surprising decision because Michal Neuvirth did not make the trip with Washington to Pennsylvania.

Despite the 23-year-old's absence on this trip, Boudreau maintained that Neuvirth is day-to-day and his condition — an undisclosed lower-body injury — has not worsened.

"No he's not worse," Boudreau said. "Our take is if he's not ready to back up in case he's needed, there's no sense. We'll see [Friday] and hopefully he'll be on the ice with us [Friday].""