Game #7 Washington Capitals vs. Pittsburgh Penguins

Where: Verizon Center, Washington, DC

When: October 20, 2007, 7:00 PM

History:
Caps Record on this Date: 2-9-1-0
Caps Game 6 Record: 9-18-5-0
All-Time vs. PIT: 75-84-16-2
Last Season vs. PIT: 0-3-1
Last Meeting: 3/27/07, WAS 3 PIT 4

This Year:
WAS Record: 3-3-0
Standings Points: 6
Division Rank: Tied 2^nd
Conference Rank: Tied 4^th
Last Game: 10/18/2007, WAS 2 NYI 5
Streak: Loss 3

PIT Record: 2-3-0
Standings Points: 4
Division Rank: Tied 4^th
Conference Rank: Tied 13^th
Last Game: 10/17/2007, PIT 4 NJ 5
Streak: Loss 1

Probable Line-Ups:
Washington
Forward Line 1: 8 Ovechkin, 25 Kozlov, 50 Motzko
Forward Line 2: 19 Backstrom, 92 Nylander, 43 Fleischmann
Forward Line 3: 18 Pettinger, 39 Steckel, 17 Clark
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

Pittsburgh
Forward Line 1: 8 Recci, 87 Crosby, 71 Malkin
Forward Line 2: 12 Malone, 11 Staal, 17 Sykora
Forward Line 3: 10 Roberts, 25 Talbot, 20 Armstrong
Forward Line 4: 18 Hall, 16 Christensen, 37 Ruutu
Defense Pair 1: 55 Gonchar, 19 Whitney
Defense Pair 2: 44 Orpik, 5 Sydor
Defense Pair 3: 3 Eaton, 4 Scuderi
Goalie: 29 Fleury
Back-up Goalie: 30 Sabourin

Injuries:
Washington – 14 Fehr (hip) IR, 44 Eminger (Ankle) IR, 28 Semin (Ankle) DTD, Gordon (back) DTD
Pittsburgh – Laraque (groin) DTD

Caps Milestones:
Alexander Semin needs 4 Points to reach 100 for his career
Chris Clark needs 7 Points to reach 100 with the Capitals
Matt Pettinger needs 8 Points to reach 100 for his career

Preview:
The Caps and Pens renew the rivalry on Saturday night at Verizon Center. Both teams are struggling a bit in the early part of the season. The Caps are trying to figure out their special teams play while the Penguins are trying to keep pucks out of their net. Through Thursday, the Pens had given up 20 goals in 5 games. The atmosphere will be great as NHL hype machine has built up the Alex Ovechkin vs. Sidney Crosby match up. The game should be fast paced and look for lots of scoring on both sides. In the two years since the lock out Pittsburgh has dominated the series but Washington has much more skill on its roster this year. I think the edge goes to the Caps with better goaltending.

Joe’s prediction: Caps 6 PIT 4.