Game #10 Washington Capitals at St. Louis Blues

Where: Scottrade Center, St. Louis, MO

When: October 27, 2007, 8:30 PM

History:
Caps Record on this Date: 3-6-0-1
Caps Game 10 Record: 12-15-5-0
All-Time vs. STL: 34-35-12-0
Last Season vs. STL: Did not play
Last Meeting: 1/19/06, WAS 5 STL 4 OT-SO

This Year:
WAS Record: 4-5-0
Standings Points: 8
Division Rank: Tied 3^rd
Conference Rank: Tied 10^th
Last Game: 10/26/2007, WAS 2 VAN 3

Streak: Loss 1

STL Record: 5-3-0
Standings Points: 10
Division Rank: Tied 3^rd
Conference Rank: Tied 7^th
Last Game: 10/25/2007, STL 0 CLB 3
Streak: Loss 1

Probable Line-Ups:
Washington
Forward Line 1: 8 OVECHKIN, 25 KOZLOV, 43 FLEISCHMANN
Forward Line 2: 19 BACKSTROM, 92 NYLANDER, 28 SEMIN
Forward Line 3: 18 PETTINGER, 39 STECKEL, 15 GORDON
Forward Line 4: 87 BRASHEAR, 21 LAICH, 10 BRADLEY
Defense Pair 1: 3 POTI, 23 JURCINA
Defense Pair 2: 2 POTHIER, 26 MORRISONN
Defense Pair 3: 55 SCHULTZ, 52 GREEN
Goalie: 37 KOLZIG
Back-up Goalie: 1 JOHNSON

St. Louis
Forward Line 1: 9 KARIYA, 7 TKACHUK, 22 BOYES
Forward Line 2: 12 STEMPNIAK, 39 WEIGHT, 42 BACKES
Forward Line 3: 62 RUCINSKY, 18 MCCLEMENT, 21 MAYERS
Forward Line 4: 19 KING, 17 R. JOHNSON, 20 M. JOHNSON
Defense Pair 1: 4 BREWER, 5 JACKMAN
Defense Pair 2: 6 BACKMAN, 6 E. JOHNSON
Defense Pair 3: 27 SALVADOR, 77 MCKEE
Goalie: 34 LEGACE
Back-up Goalie: 35 TOIVONEN

Injuries:
Washington – 14 FEHR (hip) IR, 44 EMINGER (ankle) IR, 17 CLARK (head)
St. Louis – 6 E. JOHNSON (foot fracture) DTD

Caps Milestones:
Alexander Semin needs 4 Points to reach 100 for his career
Chris Clark needs 3 Points to reach 100 with the Capitals
Matt Pettinger needs 7 Points to reach 100 for his career

Preview:

The Capitals lost last evening 3-2 to Vancouver. The real loss, however, was Capitals Captain Chris Clark. Clark did not make the flight to St. Louis and is recovering from a major ear laceration. In the last minute of the game an errant Alex Ovechkin slap shot hit Clark in the side of the head as he tried to screen the goalie. No word yet when he might return. This will cause Coach Halon to jumble his lines again. Clark had 2 goals and 2 assists in the last two games playing on the first line. Look for Tomas Fleischmann to be placed in Clark’s spot. Caps goalie may get the start and it would be his first start ever against the team he came into the league with. St. Louis is coming off a shut out loss to Columbus. Both teams are young so look for the Caps to control the pace and force the Blues into giving up the puck.

Joe’s prediction: Caps 3 STL 2.

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