Game #41 Washington Capitals at Boston Bruins

Where: TD Banknorth Garden, Boston, MA

When: January 3, 2008, 7:00 PM

History:
Caps Record on this Date: 4-9-2-0
Caps Game 41 Record: 9-13-9-1
All-Time vs. BOS: 33-59-21-6
Last Season vs. BOS: 0-0-4
Last Meeting: 3/15/07, WAS 3 BOS 4 (OT-SO)

This Year:
WAS Record: 16-19-5
Standings Points: 37
Division Rank: 4^th
Conference Rank: 14^th
Last Game: 1/1/2008, WAS 6 OTT 3
Streak: Won 2

BOS Record: 19-16-4
Standings Points: 42
Division Rank: 3^rd
Conference Rank: Tied 7^th
Last Game: 12/31/2007, BOS 5 ATL 2
Streak: Won 1

Probable Line-Ups:
Washington
Forward Line 1: 8 OVECHKIN, 19 BACKSTROM, 25 KOZLOV
Forward Line 2: 43 FLEISCHMANN, 92 NYLANDER, 28 SEMIN
Forward Line 3: 53 LAING, 39 STECKEL, 10 BRADLEY
Forward Line 4: 87 BRASHEAR, 15 GORDON, 21 LAICH
Defense Pair 1: 26 MORRISONN, 2 POTHIER
Defense Pair 2: 52 GREEN, 23 JURCINA
Defense Pair 3: 3 POTI, 55 SCHULTZ
Goalie: 37 KOLZIG
Back-up Goalie: 35 CASSIVI

Boston
Forward Line 1: 11 AXELSSON, 91 SAVARD, 81 KESSEL
Forward Line 2: 72 SCHAEFER, 13 METROPOLIT, 12 KOBASEW
Forward Line 3: 17 LUCIC, 56 NOKELAINEN, 10 BOCHENSKI
Forward Line 4: 16 STURM, 46 KREJCI, 53 REICH
Defense Pair 1: 6 WIDEMAN, 33 CHARA
Defense Pair 2: 21 FERENCE, 45 STUART
Defense Pair 3: 49 LASHOFF, 48 HUNWICK
Goalie: 29 AULD
Back-up Goalie: 30 THOMAS

Injuries:
Washington – 14 FEHR (hip) IR, 17 CLARK (groin) IR, 1 JOHNSON (knee) IR, 28 SEMIN (tailbone) DTD, 3 POTI (upper body) DTD
Boston – 44 WARD (fractured foot) IR, 27 MURRAY (hip) IR, 41 ALBERTS (concussion) IR, 35 FERNANDEZ (knee) IR, 37 BERGERON (concussion, broken nose) IR, 36 ZHAMNOV (ankle) IR

Caps Milestones:
Matt Pettinger needs 3 Points to reach 100 for his career
Alexander Semin needs 5 Shots on Goal to reach 400 for his career
Michal Nylander needs 1 Goal to reach 200 for his career
Donald Brashear needs 3 Points to reach 200 for his career

Preview:
At the halfway point of this season the Capitals will play Boston for the first time. Last season the Bruins had the Caps number as they beat the Capitals in all four meetings, three times in the shootout and once in overtime. In the last eight games the Caps are 1-2-5 against the Bruins. Boston is having a tough stretch right now winning three of their last ten. The Caps are coming off of two impressive wins over the Eastern Conference leading Ottawa. The Caps cannot afford at let down as they are still 14^th in the Conference and need to keep accumulating standings points if they want to get back into the playoff picture. Alex Ovechkin has a 7-game point string going with 7 goals and 5 assists in those games. Look for the Caps to push the tempo up on the Bruins who have suffered a lot of injuries. The Caps have been putting the puck in the net lately and have been getting goals from all 4 lines. The Caps break the trend and soundly beat Boston.

Joe’s prediction: Caps 4 BOS 1

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