Clark gets clearance to play

Chris Clark hoped to be cleared to play by the end of this month with a return from wrist surgery targeted for sometime during a potential second-round series.

After a visit to the doctor Tuesday, Clark’s timetable may have changed. Dr. Richard Barth cleared the Washington Capitals’ captain to play immediately. He was not in the lineup Wednesday night for Game 1 against the New York Rangers, but he will return to full practice Thursday and could play at some point in this Eastern Conference quarterfinal.

“I wanted to know if I could do more in practice like some of the battling drills,” Clark said. He said, ‘Yeah, you can do that.’ Near the end he said, ‘Well, if I think you can do that, then you should be able to play, so go ahead.’ ”

Clark has missed much of the past two seasons with injuries. Last season, Clark was limited to 18 games - first because of a lacerated ear caused by an Alex Ovechkin slap shot and then a frustrating groin tendon injury that wouldn’t heal.

This year, Clark was dogged by a wrist problem from the outset. He tried to play through it, but that proved ineffective and the pain worsened. He had one goal in 32 games, and opted for surgery on a torn tendon sheath. He hasn’t played since Jan. 27.

“I don’t have that extreme sharp pain that I had every time I shot the puck or stickhandled and I would just pass it,” Clark said. “It got to the point where anything I did - even in the splint - was just too much. That’s all gone now for the most part. There is only a little bit of stiffness and soreness, but with time that will go away, and I’m not doing any harm to it.”

Pressure on Caps

Rangers coach John Tortorella has no problem with his team opening up on the postseason on the road.

“I think there’s a lot of pressure on the home team to win those first two games,” he said after Wednesday morning’s skate. “[On the road], we’re all together, we’re not spread out.”

Analyzing the series, Tortorella said goalies Henrik Lundqvist and Jose Theodore are the keys. Even before coming to the Rangers, Tortorella was a fan of Lundqvist.

“I just like his fight,” he said. “How he carries himself and he does make some pretty good saves along the way. If we’re going to compete in this series and try to find our way, he’s going to have to be our best player just as Theodore has to be their best player. That’s just the lay of the land in the NHL - goaltending is that important.”

Claiming to know “not a damn thing about goaltending,” Tortorella was asked about Theodore.

“I have my thoughts, I’m not going to give them to you. I’ll leave it at that,” he said.

McGuire on Backstrom

Count NBC and TSN analyst Pierre McGuire as a fan of Capitals center Nicklas Backstrom’s.

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