Game #64 Washington Capitals Vs. Minnesota Wild

Where: Verizon Center, Washington, DC

When: February 26, 2008, 7:00 PM

History:
Caps Record on this Date: 8-5-1-0
Caps Game 64 Record: 15-11-3-2
All-Time vs. MIN: 69-55-8-5
Last Season vs. MIN: 1-3-0
Last Meeting: 10/12/06, WAS 2 MIN 3 (OT-SO)

This Year:
WAS Record: 28-27-8
Standings Points: 64
Division Rank: 2^nd
Conference Rank: 11^th
Last Game: 2/24/08, WAS 1 NJ 2 (OT)
Streak: Loss 3

MIN Record: 34-23-5
Standings Points: 73
Division Rank: 2^nd
Conference Rank: 6^th
Last Game: 2/23/08, NJ 4 NYI 2
Streak: Loss 3

Probable Line-Ups:
Washington
Forward Line 1: 8 OVECHKIN, 19 BACKSTROM, 43 FLEISCHMANN
Forward Line 2: 28 SEMIN, 25 KOZLOV, 18 PETTINGER
Forward Line 3: 53 LAING, 39 STECKEL, 10 BRADLEY
Forward Line 4: 87 BRASHEAR, 15 GORDON, 21 LAICH
Defense Pair 1: 26 MORRISONN, 52 GREEN
Defense Pair 2: 23 JURCINA, 4 POTI
Defense Pair 3: 4 ERSKINE, 44 EMINGER
Goalie: 37 KOLZIG
Back-up Goalie: 1 JOHNSON

Minnesota
Forward Line 1: 38 DEMITRA, 9 KOIVU, 10 GABORIK
Forward Line 2: 12 ROLSTON, 25 BELANGER, 96 BOUCHARD
Forward Line 3: 19 VEILLEUX, 15 SHEPPARD, 92 RADIVOJEVIC
Forward Line 4: 17 FEDORUK, 83 FOY, 21 PARRISH
Defense Pair 1: 5 JOHNSSON, 8 BURNS
Defense Pair 2: 41 SKOULA, 55 SCHULTZ
Defense Pair 3: 26 FOSTER, 6 HILL
Goalie: 32 BACKSTROM
Back-up Goalie: 29 HARDING

Injuries:
Washington – 17 CLARK (groin) DTD, 92 NYLANDER (shoulder) IR, 2 POTHIER (head) IR, 55 SCHULTZ (knee) DTD
Minnesota – 24 BOOGAARD (back) IR

Caps Milestones:
Donald Brashear needs 2 Points to reach 200 for his career
Matt Pettinger needs 1 Point to reach 100 for his career
Tom Poti needs 9 Shots on Goal to reach 1,100 for his career
Alex Ovechkin needs 2 Goals to reach 50 for this season

Preview:
The Caps take on the Minnesota Wild this evening in a contrast of styles. The Wild are a defensive team first and have scored just 167 goals this season for an average of 2.69 goals per game. On the flip side they have only given up 165 goals for a 2.66 goals against per game average. The Caps have their work cut out for them, they need to score and they have not done that well in their last couple of games. No scoring has come from the 3^rd and 4^th lines and they have given up leads late in games. The Caps are need of a run of wins if they want to get into the playoff picture. No better place to start than right here.

Joe’s prediction: Caps 3 MIN 1

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