Preseason Game #1 Washington Capitals at Carolina Hurricanes

Where: RBC Center, Raleigh, NC

When: September 16, 2007, 3:00 PM

History:

All-Time vs. CAR: 26-15-7-3

Last Season vs. CAR: 3-5-0

Last Meeting: 3/22/07, WAS 3 CAR 4

This Preseason:

WAS Record: 0-0-0

CAR Record: 0-0-0

Probable Line-Ups:

Washington

Forward Line 1: 8 Ovechkin, 92 Nylander, 17 Clark

Forward Line 2: 28 Semin, 19 Backstrom, 25 Kozlov

Forward Line 3: 18 Pettinger, 15 B.Gordon, 10 Bradley

Forward Line 4: 87 Brashear, 16 Sutherby, 21 Laich

Defense Pair 1: 3 Poti, 23 Jurcina

Defense Pair 2: 2 Pothier, 26 Morrisonn

Defense Pair 3: 4 Erskine, 44 Eminger

Goalie: 37 Kolzig

Back-up Goalie: 1 Johnson

Other Forwards: 22 Morgan, 24 Barney, 27 Clymer, 36 Bouchard, 38 Klepis, 39 Steckel, 43 Fleischmann, 45 Werner, 50 Motzko, 53 Laing, 54 Potulny, 56 Bourque, 57 Wilson, 61 Joudrey, 63 A. Gordon, 64 Kronick, 65 Guerin, 71 Morin, 74 Maxwell, 83 Beagle, 85 Perreault, 90 Pinizzotto

Other Defensemen: 9 Pollock, 29 Hunt, 34 Pokulok, 42 Lepisto, 46 P. McNeil, 47 Alzner, 52 Green, 55 Schultz, 62 Collins, 63 Godfrey, 76 McAllister, 78 Boumedienne, 79 G. McNeill, 89 Sloan

Other Goalies: 30 Neuvirth, 31 Machesney, 35 Cassivi

Carolina

Forward Line 1: 26 Cole, 12 Staal, 13 Whitney

Forward Line 2: 61 Stillman, 17 Brind’Amour, 11 Williams

Forward Line 3: 16 Ladd, 8 Cullen, 24 Walker

Forward Line 4: 59 LaRose, 51 Hamilton, 27 Adams

Defense Pair 1: 5 Kaberle, 6 Hedican

Defense Pair 2: 7 Wallin, 42 Gleason

Defense Pair 3: 22 Commodore, 2 Wesley

Goalie: 30 C. Ward

Back-up Goalie: 47 Grahme

Other Forwards: 14 Sutter, 18 Bayda, 19 Letowski, 31 MacDonald, 32 Gillies, 34 Gove, 36 Nolan, 37 Aucoin, 39 Dwyer, 41 Reed, 44 Hughes, 52 Angelidis, 54 Chaput, 56 Petruzalek, 57 Bowman, 58 Terry, 64 McCrae, 67 Samson, 72 Blanchard

Other Defensemen: 4 Seidenberg, 28 Brookbank, 29 Mormina, 33 Carson, 38 Conboy, 43 Babin, 46 Flood, 53 Borer, 63 S. Ward, 71 Forrest

Other Goalies: 35 Nastiuk, 49 Leighton, 50 Manzato, 60 Peters

Injuries:

Washington – Fehr, Arsene, Machesney (groin)

Carolina – N/A

Preview:

The Caps first preseason game is just two days after the beginning of training camp. We’ll see how the boys perform. I’m not sure how Coach Hanlon is going to play this one. With only two days of practice, I would assume he is going to continue to evaluate the younger talent under game situations. I don’t see him putting the big guns out there without developing a little more chemistry between the players. With Eric Fehr not passing his physical, he will also be looking for a winger to step up in a goal producing capacity. Fleischmann, Klepis and Bouchard seem to be the leading candidates. Backstrom will most likely play to allow him to get more comfortable with the speed of the game and the smaller North American rink size. He’ll also be looking at the development of the younger defenders. In particular, where are Green and Shultz going to fit in this year.