Where: Verizon Center, Washington, DC
When: October 18, 2008, 7:00 PM
History:
Caps Record on this Date: 6-6-0-0
Caps Game 5 Record: 7-25-1-0
All-Time vs. NJ: 70-55-8-6
All-Time At Home vs. NJ: 41-22-4-3
Last Season vs. NJ: 2-1-1
Last Meeting: 2/29/08, WAS 4 NJ 0
This Year:
WAS Record: 3-1-0
Standings Points: 6
Division Rank: 1st
Conference Rank: 3rd
Last Game: 10/16/08, WAS 4 PIT 3
Streak: Win 3
NJ Record: 3-1-0
Standings Points: 6
Division Rank: 2nd
Conference Rank: 5th
Last Game: 10/16/08, NJ 1 ATL 0
Streak: Win 1
Probable Line-Ups:
Washington
Forward Line 1: 8 OVECHKIN, 19 BACKSTROM, 17 CLARK
Forward Line 2: 21 LAICH, 92 NYLANDER, 28 SEMIN
Forward Line 3: 14 FLEISCHMANN, 15 GORDON, 14 FEHR
Forward Line 4:56 BOURQUE, 39 STECKEL, 10 BRADLEY
Defense Pair 1: 26 MORRISONN, 52 GREEN
Defense Pair 2: 91 FEDOROV, 23 JURCINA
Defense Pair 3: 55 SCHULTZ, 4 ERSKINE
Goalie: 1 JOHNSON
Back-up Goalie: 60 THEODORE
New Jersey
Forward Line 1: 26 ELIAS, 12 ROLSTON, 15 LANGENBRUNNER
Forward Line 2: 9 PARISE, 11 MADDEN, 14 GIONTA
Forward Line 3: 20 PANDOLFO, 19 ZAJAC, 8 ZUBRUS
Forward Line 4: 17 RUPP, 16 HOLIK, 23 CLARKSON
Defense Pair 1: 7 MARTIN, 5 WHITE
Defense Pair 2: 29 ODUYA, 24 SALVADOR
Defense Pair 3: 27 MOTTAU, 28 SALMELA
Goalie: 30 BRODEUR
Back-up Goalie: 1 WEEKES
Injuries:
Washington – 2 POTHIER (concussion) IR, 25 KOZLOV (leg) DTD, 3 POTI (groin) DTD, 87 BRASHEAR (hand) DTD
New Jersey – 21 TALLACKSON (irregular heartbeat) IR
Caps Milestones:
Victor Kozlov needs 3 points to reach 500 in his career.
Matt Bradley needs 4 points to reach 100 in his career.
Preview:
In tonight’s matchup the Caps face the New Jersey Devils. VS. Commentator Keith Jones’ picked the Devils to make the Stanley Cup Final so this will be another big test for the Caps. In the last two games the Caps have lost 3 players to injury. These injuries have forced the Caps to move Sergei Fedorov to the blue line where he will be paired with Milan Jurcina. Fedorov has performed extremely well on the back end and is tied for 3rd in the NHL with a +/- rating of plus-5. Chris Clark will again on the first line and Chris Bourque has been recalled from Hershey to play in place of Donald Brashear. The Capitals will start Brent Johnson in goal and want to get a consistent effort between the pipes. Look for the Caps to improve on their special teams play. The Caps gave up 3 power play goals in their last game. They also failed to convert on 4 of their own power plays. The Caps currently rank 9th in the NHL on the power play (21%) and 26th in the league on the penalty kill (70.6%). Watch for another strong outing from Alexander Semin who has 8 points in 4 games this season. Semin has recorded points in every game to start this season. This should be a close match but the Caps, ranked 2nd in the NHL in goals/game (4.25), have a lot of fire power up front to overcome the Devils.
Joe’s prediction: Caps 4 NJ 3
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