Game #16 Washington Capitals at Ottawa Senators

Where: Scotiabank Place, Ottawa, Ontario

When: November 8, 2007, 7:30 PM

History:
Caps Record on this Date: 2-6-2-0
Caps Game 16 Record: 14-14-4-0
All-Time vs. OTT: 24-26-5-0
Last Season vs. OTT: 2-2-0
Last Meeting: 1/30/07, WAS 2 OTT3

This Year:
WAS Record: 5-9-1
Division Rank: 5^th
Conference Rank: 15^th
Last Game: 11/6/07, WAS 1 ATL 2 (OT)
Streak: Loss 4

OTT Record: 13-1-0
Division Rank: 1^st
Conference Rank: 1^st
Last Game: 11/6/07, OTT 5 TOR 1
Streak: Win 8

Probable Line-Ups:
Washington
Forward Line 1: 8 OVECHKIN, 92 NYLANDER, 56 BOURQUE
Forward Line 2: 43 FLEISCHMANN, 19 BACKSTROM, 25 KOZLOV
Forward Line 3: 18 PETTINGER, 39 STECKEL, 15 GORDON
Forward Line 4: 87 BRASHEAR, 21 LAICH, 10 BRADLEY
Defense Pair 1: 26 MORRISONN, 23 JURCINA
Defense Pair 2: 2 POTHIER, 55 SCHULTZ
Defense Pair 3: 52 GREEN, 3 POTI
Goalie: 37 KOLZIG
Back-up Goalie: 1 JOHNSON

Ottawa
Forward Line 1: 15 HEATLEY, 19 SPEZZA, 11 ALFRESSON
Forward Line 2: 20 VERMETTE, 12 FISHER, 44 EAVES
Forward Line 3: 71 FOLIGNO, 22 KELLY, 25 NEIL
Forward Line 4: 27 ROBITAILLE, 10 DONOVAN, 16 MCGRATTAN
Defense Pair 1: 4 PHILLIPS, 24 VOLCHENKOV
Defense Pair 2: 6 REDDEN, 14 MESZAROS
Defense Pair 3: 7 CORVO, 5 SCHUBERT
Goalie: 29 GERBER
Back-up Goalie: 1 EMERY

Injuries:
Washington – 14 FEHR (hip) IR, 28 SEMIN (ankle) IR, CLARK (ear) IR
Ottawa – 19 SPEZZA (groin) 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 5 Points to reach 100 for his career
Brian Pothier needs 7 Points to reach 100 for his career
Tom Poti needs 4 Assists to reach 200 for his career
Michal Nylander needs 6 Goals to reach 200 for his career
Alex Ovechkin needs 8 Shots on Goal to reach 900 for his career

Preview:
The Capitals go into Ottawa with no one giving them any chance for a victory. The Senators are on an 8-game winning streak and have only lost once this season. This could be a good thing for the Caps. They need to just relax and play their game. Having scored 3 goals in the last 4 games, they need the help from secondary scoring. Teams are blunting the attack of Alex Ovechkin and the rest of the first line. To pull off an upset, players from the third and fourth line are going to need to contribute. Look for the Caps to play a puck possession game to keep Ottawa off the offensive. I’m not sure it will be enough because Ottawa has scored 49 goals in 14 games.

Joe’s prediction: Caps 3 OTT 5

Official Preview