Game #57 Washington Capitals vs. New York Rangers

Where: Verizon Center, Washington, DC

When: February 10, 2008, 1:00 PM

History:
Caps Record on this Date: 5-5-2-0
Caps Game 57 Record: 9-16-6-0
All-Time vs. NYR: 81-74-14-4
Last Season vs. NYR: 1-3-0
Last Meeting: 12/12/07, WAS 5 NYR 4

This Year:
WAS Record: 26-25-5
Standings Points: 57
Division Rank: 2^nd
Conference Rank: 10^th
Last Game: 2/8/08, WAS 1 CAR 2
Streak: Loss 1

NYR Record: 28-24-6
Standings Points: 62
Division Rank: 4^th
Conference Rank: 7^th
Last Game: 2/9/2007, NYR 2 PHI 0
Streak: Won 1

Game 1: 10/12/07, WAS 1 NYR 3
Game 2: 11/1/07, WAS 0 NYR 2
Game 3: 12/12/07, WAS 5 NYR 4

Probable Line-Ups:
Washington
Forward Line 1: 8 OVECHKIN, 19 BACKSTROM, 25 KOZLOV
Forward Line 2: 28 SEMIN, 21 LAICH, 43 FLEISCHMANN
Forward Line 3: 53 LAING, 39 STECKEL, 10 BRADLEY
Forward Line 4: 87 BRASHEAR, 15 GORDON, 14 FEHR
Defense Pair 1: 26 MORRISONN, 52 GREEN
Defense Pair 2: 23 JURCINA, 3 POTI
Defense Pair 3: 44 EMINGER, 55 SCHULTZ
Goalie: 37 KOLZIG
Back-up Goalie: 1 JOHNSON

Rangers
Forward Line 1: 16 AVERY, 19 GOMEZ, 68 JAGR
Forward Line 2: 10 DAWES, 17 DUBINSKY, 24 CALLAHAN
Forward Line 3: 82 STRAKA, 23 DRURY, 28 ORR
Forward Line 4: 25 PRUCHA, 15 BETTS, 14 SHANAHAN
Defense Pair 1: 3 ROZSIVAL, 18 STAAL
Defense Pair 2: 51 TYUTIN, 5 GIRARDI
Defense Pair 3: 27 MARA, 34 STRUDWICK
Goalie: 30 LUNDQVIST
Back-up Goalie: 40 VALIQUETTE

Injuries:
Washington – 17 CLARK (groin) DTD, 92 NYLANDER (shoulder) IR, 2 POTHIER (head) IR
Rangers – 81 HOSSA (knee, face) IR, 8 MALIK (back) IR, 14 SHANAHAN (leg) DTD

Caps Milestones:
Olaf Kolzig will play in his 700^th career game.
Donald Brashear needs 2 Points to reach 200 for his career
Viktor Kozlov needs 1 assists to reach 300 for his career
Matt Pettinger needs 2 Points to reach 100 for his career

Preview:
The Caps were knocked out of 1^st place in the Southeast Division Friday night. They spent Saturday working on the power play that has been very ineffective lately. They have scored only 1 goal with the man advantage in their last 8 games. Look for the Caps to be more direct in their approach and take the puck to the net more. This is a big game for the Caps to keep pace with the other Southeast Division rivals.

Joe’s prediction: Caps 3 NYR 2

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