Game #25 Washington Capitals vs. Florida Panthers

Where: Verizon Center, Washington, DC

When: November 28, 2007, 7:00 PM

History:
Caps Record on this Date: 4-8-2-0
Caps Game 25 Record: 12-18-2-0
All-Time vs. FLA: 32-28-9-5
Last Season vs. FLA: 3-3-2
Last Meeting: 11/19/07, WAS 3 FLA 4

This Year:
WAS Record: 8-15-1
Standings Points: 17
Division Rank: Tied 5^th
Conference Rank: 15^th
Last Game: 11/26/2007, WAS 1 BUF 3
Streak: Loss 1

FLA Record: 11-12-1
Standings Points: 23
Division Rank: 2^nd
Conference Rank: Tied 9^th
Last Game: 11/23/2007, FLA 3 NYR 2
Streak: Win 3

Game 1: 11/15/07, WAS 1 FLA 2
Game 2: 11/19/07, WAS 3 FLA 4

Probable Line-Ups:
Washington
Forward Line 1: 8 OVECHKIN, 92 NYLANDER, 17 CLARK
Forward Line 2: 18 PETTINGER, 25 KOZLOV, 28 SEMIN
Forward Line 3: 21 LAICH, 39 STECKEL, 15 GORDON
Forward Line 4: 87 BRASHEAR, 19 BACKSTROM, 10 BRADLEY
Defense Pair 1: 26 MORRISONN, 52 GREEN,
Defense Pair 2: 2 POTHIER, 55 SCHULTZ
Defense Pair 3: 3 POTI, 23 JURCINA
Goalie: 37 KOLZIG
Back-up Goalie: 1 JOHNSON

Florida
Forward Line 1: 10 BOOTH, 12 JOKINEN, 15 STUMPEL
Forward Line 2: 20 ZEDNIK, 9 WEISS, 16 HORTON
Forward Line 3: 18 PELTONEN, 54 KREPS, 14 DVORAK
Forward Line 4: 85 OLESZ, 11 CAMPBELL, 17 MURRAY
Defense Pair 1: 4 BOUWMEESTAR, 24 SALEI
Defense Pair 2: 5 ALLEN, 26 VAN RYN
Defense Pair 3: 22 CULLIMORE, 7 MONTADOR
Goalie: 29 VOKOUN
Back-up Goalie: 31 ANDERSON

Injuries:
Washington – 14 FEHR (hip) IR
Florida – WELCH (shoulder) IR, 53 MCCLEAN (hand) DTD

Caps Milestones:
Alexander Semin needs 3 Points to reach 100 for his career
Matt Pettinger needs 5 Points to reach 100 for his career
Brian Pothier needs 5 Points to reach 100 for his career
Michal Nylander needs 5 Goals to reach 200 for his career

Preview:
After a loss to Buffalo on Monday the Capitals will try to start a new winning streak against Florida tonight at the Phone Booth. The Capitals played hard but costly turnovers led to two Sabers goals and an inability to finish again held the Caps back. They get another crack at Florida who beat the Caps twice in the last 14 days on a pair of one goal decisions. If the Caps can keep the intensity they’ve had for the past three games they should be able to come away with some standings points in this one. Florida is on a modest 3-game winning streak and hasn’t played in 5 days. Lets hope the Verizon Center staff can get some control over the ice for tonight’s contest; It’s been an absolute embarrassment and if it doesn’t improve someone is going to get hurt. Look for another strong performance from Alex Ovechkin who has a 9-game point streak going and is second in the league in goals scored. In 18 lifetime games against Florida he has 9 goals and 13 assists for 22 points.

Joe’s prediction: Caps 5 FLA 3.

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