Game #15 Washington Capitals at Atlanta Thrashers

Where: Philips Arena, Atlanta, GA

When: November 6, 2007, 7:00 PM

History:
Caps Record on this Date: 6-5-1-0
Caps Game 15 Record: 13-14-4-1
All-Time vs. ATL: 21-14-5-3
Last Season vs. ATL: 3-3-2
Last Meeting: 10/5/07, WAS 3 ATL 1

This Year:
WAS Record: 5-9-0
Division Rank: Tied 4^th
Conference Rank: Tied 14^th
Last Game: 11/5/07, WAS 0 CAR 5
Streak: Loss 3

ATL Record: 5-9-0
Division Rank: Tied 4^th
Conference Rank: Tied 14^th
Last Game: 11/3/07, ATL 6 TAM 4
Streak: Win 1

Probable Line-Ups:
Washington
Forward Line 1: 8 OVECHKIN, 15 GORDON, 25 KOZLOV,
Forward Line 2: 19 BACKSTROM, 92 NYLANDER, 43 FLEISCHMANN
Forward Line 3: 18 PETTINGER, 39 STECKEL, 21 LAICH
Forward Line 4: 87 BRASHEAR, 16 SUTHERBY, 10 BRADLEY
Defense Pair 1: 26 MORRISONN, 23 JURCINA
Defense Pair 2: 2 POTHIER, 55 SCHULTZ
Defense Pair 3: 52 GREEN, 4 ERSKINE
Goalie: 37 KOLZIG
Back-up Goalie: 1 JOHNSON

Atlanta
Forward Line 1: 17 KOVALCHUK, 12 WHITE, 18 HOSSA
Forward Line 2: 13 KOZLOV, 16 HOLIK, 9 DUPUIS
Forward Line 3: 29 LARSEN, 44 LITTLE, 53 STERLING
Forward Line 4: 36 BOULTON, 23 SLATER, 11 PERRIN
Defense Pair 1: 77 ZHITNIK, 28 HAVELID
Defense Pair 2: 2 EXELBY, 22 KLEE
Defense Pair 3: 5 MCCARTHY, 41 ENSTROM
Goalie: 1 HEDBERG
Back-up Goalie: 33 PAVELEC

Injuries:
Washington – 14 FEHR (hip) IR, 28 SEMIN (ankle) DTD, 44 EMINGER (ankle) IR, CLARK (ear) DTD, 3 POTI (groin) DTD
Atlanta – 20 Rucchin (concussion) IR, 32 LEHTONEN (groin) IR

Caps Milestones:
Alexander Semin needs Points to reach 100 for his career
Chris Clark needs 3 Points to reach 100 with the Capitals
Matt Pettinger needs 5 Points to reach 100 for his career
Brian Pothier needs 7 Points to reach 100 for his career
Michal Nylander needs 7 Goals to reach 200 for his career
Alex Ovechkin needs 10 Shots on Goal to reach 900 for his career
Viktor Kozlov needs 6 Shots on Goal to reach 1,900 for his career

Preview:

The Caps have won 2 of their last 11 games and are coming off of a 5-0 blow out loss at Carolina. They face an Atlanta team that has an identical 5-9-0 record. This may be just what the doctor ordered, as the Caps have already beaten Atlanta this season. They will need another strong performance from Alex Ovechkin who has the best numbers against Atlanta than any other team in the NHL. He has 14 goals and 15 assists for 29 points in 17 games against Atlanta. Atlanta will be without starting goaltender Keri Lehtonen who may not be that upset about it. OV has scored 11 goals on Lehtonen including a hat trick clinching, overtime, game winning goal last season. Speaking of hat tricks, Atlanta’s Ilya Kovachuk has a hat trick in each of his last two games. Look for the Caps to try and get on the board early against the Thrashers and they need to stay out of the penalty box.

Joe’s prediction: Caps end streak, Caps 4 ATL 2

Official Preview

Update: From The Patriot-News, Chris Bourque has been recalled from Hershey and will make his NHL debut in tonight's game.