Game #4 Preview: Washington Capitals vs. New York Islanders

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Where: Verizon Center, Washington, DC

When:  October 13, 2010 7:00 PM

History:           

Caps Record on this Date: 5-12-2-0

Caps Game 4 Record: 17-17-0-1

All-Time vs. NYI: 87-79-13-3

All-Time Home vs. NYI: 45-33-11-2

Last Season vs. NYI: 3-0-1

Last Meeting: 1/26/10, WAS 7 NYI 2

This Year:

WAS Record: 2-1-0

Standings Points: 4

Division Rank: 2nd

Conference Rank: 4th      

Last Game: 10/11/10, WAS 3 OTT 2 (OT)

Streak: Win 2

NYI Record: 1-0-1

Standings Points: 3

Division Rank: 2nd

Conference Rank: 5th    

Last Game: 10/11/10, NYI 6 NYR 4

Streak: Win 1

Probable Line-Ups:     

Washington

Forward Line 1: 8 OVECHKIN, 19 BACKSTROM, 22 KNUBLE

Forward Line 2: 21 LAICH, 14 FLEISCHMANN, 28 SEMIN

Forward Line 3: 25 CHIMERA, 90 JOHANSSON, 16 FEHR

Forward Line 4: 26 HENDRICKS, 15 GORDON, 10 BRADLEY

Defense Pair 1: 55 SCHULTZ, 52 GREEN

Defense Pair 2: 3 POTI, 4 ERSKINE

Defense Pair 3: 27 ALZNER, 74 CARLSON

Goalie: 30 NEUVIRTH

Back-up Goalie: 35 SABOURIN

NYI

Forward Line 1: 57 COMEAU, 12 BAILEY, 15 PARENTEAU

Forward Line 2: 40 GRABNER, 93 WEIGHT, 25 NIEDERREITER

Forward Line 3: 26 MOULSON, 51 NIELSEN, 7 HUNTER

Forward Line 4: 14 GILLIES, 28 KONOPKA, 16 SIM

Defense Pair 1: 4 EATON, 24 MARTINEK

Defense Pair 2: 20 WISNIEWSKI, 10 MOTTAU

Defense Pair 3: 27 JURCINA, 47 MACDONALD

Goalie: 39 DIPIETRO

Back-up Goalie: 30 ROLOSON

Injuries:

Washington – 1 VARLAMOV (groin) DTD, 3 POTI (lower body) DTD, 10 BRADLEY (lower body) DTD, 90 JOHANSSON (foot) WTW

NYI – 91 TAVARES (concussion) DTD, 52 LAWSON (knee) IR, 44 SCHREMP (back) IR, 21 OKPOSO (shoulder) IR, 2 STREIT (shoulder) IR

Caps Milestones:

Alex Ovechkin will play his 400^th career game.

Nicklas Backstrom needs 11 assists to reach 200 in his career.

Brooks Laich needs 8 points to reach 200 in his career.

Preview:

The New York Islanders come to the Verizon Center for the first of four meetings this season. In recent years the Isles have been at the bottom of the standings which means they picked very high in the draft. New York has a bunch of young talent on their roster. These are the most dangerous types of games for the Caps. The Isles play hard and have enough talent to beat any team on a given night. Caps fans must remember their teams’ own rebuild to get a sense of where New York is today. Look for this to be a hardworking, gritty game. The Caps will be without Tom Poti on defense once again, and also without the services of Matt Bradley and Marcus Johansson who were both hurt in Monday’s game. David Steckel will be back in the lineup and D.J. King will make his Capitals debut. I am thinking that we should see a structured approach to this game. The key will be to get the lead early and not give the young Isles a chance to get into the game. Look for a big start from the Capitals and a scrappy, hard hitting game.

Joe’s prediction: Caps 4 NYI 1

Official Preview