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Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Game #58 Washington Capitals at Atlanta Thrashers

Where: Philips Arena, Atlanta, GA

When: February 13, 2008, 7:00 PM

History:
Caps Record on this Date: 4-7-2-0
Caps Game 58 Record: 15-14-1-1
All-Time vs. ATL: 22-16-5-4
Last Season vs. ATL: 3-3-2
Last Meeting: 2/2/08, WAS 0 ATL 2

This Year:
WAS Record: 27-25-5
Standings Points: 59
Division Rank: 2nd
Conference Rank: 10th
Last Game: 2/10/08, WAS 3 NYR 2 (OT)
Streak: Won 1

ATL Record: 27-27-4
Standings Points: 58
Division Rank: 3rd
Conference Rank: 11th
Last Game: 2/9/2007, ATL 2 TAM 1
Streak: Won 1

Game 1: 10/5/07, WAS 3 ATL 1
Game 2: 11/6/07, WAS 1 ATL 2 (OT)
Game 3: 11/21/07, WAS 1 ATL 5
Game 4: 1/15/08, WAS 6 ATL 3
Game 5: 2/2/08, WAS 0 ATL 2

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: 4 ERSKINE, 55 SCHULTZ
Goalie: 37 KOLZIG
Back-up Goalie: 1 JOHNSON

Atlanta
Forward Line 1: 13 KOZLOV, 12 WHITE, 8 RECCHI
Forward Line 2: 36 BOULTON, 16 HOLIK, 18 HOSSA
Forward Line 3: 17 KOVALCHUK, 11 PERRIN, 27 THORBURN
Forward Line 4: 9 DUPUIS, 23 SLATER, 29 LARSEN
Defense Pair 1: 77 ZHITNIK, 22 KLEE
Defense Pair 2: 2 EXELBY, 28 HAVELID
Defense Pair 3: 39 ENSTROM, 5 MCCARTHY
Goalie: 32 LEHTONEN
Back-up Goalie: 1 HEDBERG

Injuries:
Washington – 17 CLARK (groin) DTD, 92 NYLANDER (shoulder) IR, 2 POTHIER (head) IR
Atlanta – 20 RUCCHIN (concussion) IR

Caps Milestones:
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:
With a win over the Rangers on Sunday the Capitals reclaimed the Division lead and now embark on a three game road trip to Atlanta, Florida and Tampa. All three are Southeast Division teams and the Caps need to put up some wins if they want to distance themselves from the rest of Division. The Thrashers are one point behind the Caps and are coming off of a victory against Tampa. They are led by Ilya Kovalchuk who is second in the league in goals scored. He is currently trailing Alex Ovechkin by 8 goals. Look for the Caps to score early. A task they have not accomplished lately as they have scored in the first period only 3 times in the last 9 games. They also need to keep scoring on the power play. They recorded 2 power play goals in Sunday’s win. This one should have a playoff type atmosphere.

Joe’s prediction: Caps 4 ATL 3

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