Game #18 Washington Capitals at Florida Panthers

Where: Bank Atlantic Center, Sunrise FL

When: November 15, 2007, 7:30 PM

History:
Caps Record on this Date: 9-3-2-1
Caps Game 18 Record: 6-20-5-1
All-Time vs. FLA: 32-26-9-5
Last Season vs. FLA: 3-3-2
Last Meeting: 4/3/07, WAS 1 FLA 0

This Year:
WAS Record: 6-10-1
Standings Points: 13
Division Rank: 5^th
Conference Rank: Tied 14^th
Last Game: 11/10/2007, WAS 2 TAM 5
Streak: Loss 1

FLA Record: 7-11-1
Standings Points: 15
Division Rank: 4^th
Conference Rank: Tied 12^th
Last Game: 11/13/2007, FLA 2 ATL 3 (OT)
Streak: Loss 4

Probable Line-Ups:
Washington
Forward Line 1: 8 OVECHKIN, 92 NYLANDER, 17 CLARK
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

Florida
Forward Line 1: 18 PELTONEN, 12 JOKINEN, 16 HORTON
Forward Line 2: 10 BOOTH, 15 STUMPEL, 14 DVORAK
Forward Line 3: 37 GLASS, 9 WEISS, 54 KREPS
Forward Line 4: 64 MEYER, 11 CAMPBELL
Defense Pair 1: 4 BOUWMEESTAR, 22 CULLIMORE
Defense Pair 2: 24 SALEI, 21 MURPHY
Defense Pair 3: 26 VAN RYN, 2 MEZEI, 7 MONTADOR
Goalie: 29 VOKOUN
Back-up Goalie: 31 ANDERSON

Injuries:
Washington – 14 FEHR (hip) IR, 28 SEMIN (ankle) IR
Florida – OLESZ (wrist) IR, WELCH (shoulder) IR, 5 ALLEN (concussion) DTD, 53 MCCLEAN (hand) 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 2 Assists to reach 200 for his career
Michal Nylander needs 6 Goals to reach 200 for his career

Preview:
The Caps will try and put their last game out of mind as they take on the Panthers in Florida. Scoring has been an issue for the Caps who are only averaging a meager 2.35 goals per game. The special teams allowed 2 power play goals last game and the Caps have been outscored on the power play 18 to 12 this season. The goaltending has been very good with a 2.79 GAA and 0.907 save percentage. The goalies need some support. Florida is having another difficult year but with two of the biggest Capitals killers in Olie Jokinen and Jozef Stumpel they always play the Caps tough. Look for the Caps to try and put together a full 60 minute hockey game and get this road trip off to a positive start.

Joe’s prediction: Caps 3 FLA 1.

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