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Monday, November 8, 2010

Game #15 Preview: Washington Capitals at New York Rangers



Where: Madison Square Garden, New York, NY

When:  November 9, 2010 7:30 PM

History:           
Caps Record on this Date: 5-9-2-0
Caps Game 15 Record: 14-15-4-2
All-Time vs. NYR: 88-75-18-5
All-Time at NYR: 38-43-9-2
Last Season vs. NYR: 3-1-0
Last Meeting: 3/6/10, WAS 2 NYR 0

This Year:
WAS Record: 10-4-0
Standings Points: 20
Division Rank: 1st
Conference Rank: 1st      
Last Game: 11/7/10, WAS 3 PHI 2 (OT)
Streak: Win 4

NYR Record: 7-6-1
Standings Points: 15
Division Rank: 2nd
Conference Rank: 6th    
Last Game: 11/7/10, NYR 0 STL 2
Streak: Loss 1

Probable Line-Ups:     
Washington
Forward Line 1: 8 OVECHKIN, 19 BACKSTROM, 28 SEMIN
Forward Line 2: 14 FLEISCHMANN, 21 LAICH, 22 KNUBLE
Forward Line 3: 25 CHIMERA, 15 GORDON, 16 FEHR
Forward Line 4: 26 HENDRICKS, 39 STECKEL, 10 BRADLEY
Defense Pair 1: 55 SCHULTZ, 52 GREEN
Defense Pair 2: 4 ERSKINE, 74 CARLSON
Defense Pair 3: 27 ALZNER, 89 SLOAN
Goalie: 30 NEUVIRTH
Back-up Goalie: 70 HOLTBY

New York
Forward Line 1: 17 DUBINSKY, 42 ANISIMOV, 24 CALLAHAN
Forward Line 2: 31 FROLOV, 26 CHRISTENSEN, 19 FEDOTENKO
Forward Line 3: 16 AVERY, 22 BOYLE, 8 PRUST
Forward Line 4: 94 BOOGAARD, 21 STEPAN, 91 GRAVCHEV
Defense Pair 1: 18 STAAL, 33 ROZSIVAL
Defense Pair 2: 4 DEL ZOTTO, 5 GIRARDI
Defense Pair 3: 44 EMINGER, 38 SAUER
Goalie: 30 LUNDQVIST
Back-up Goalie: 43 BIRON

Injuries:
Washington –1 VARLAMOV (groin) IR, 3 POTI (lower body) IR

NYR – 10 GABORIK (shoulder) IR, 23 DRURY (broken finger) IR, 20 PROSPAL (back) IR

Caps Milestones:
Nicklas Backstrom needs 1 assists to reach 200 in his career.
Brooks Laich needs 3 points to reach 200 in his career.
Jason Chimera needs 6 points to reach 200 in his career.

Preview:
After completing a sweep on a three game home stand, the Capitals take their 4-game winning streak to the big apple for a meeting with the New York Rangers. The Rangers are second in the Atlantic Division and are coming a shutout loss on Sunday. The Caps have started to even out their game but still need to compete for a full 60-minutes on a consistent basis. Alexander Semin and Mike Green each have 4-game goal scoring streaks going and are playing with a ton of confidence. Semin looks to be a more complete player this season as he has put in excellent work on the forecheck and defensive end of the ice. Look for the Capitals to try and start fast against the blueshirts. The Caps have only scored 6 first period goals this season and never more than 1 in a game. I think the game will be even for the first period but the Caps will take over the game in the second. It should be interesting to see if Head Coach Bruce Boudreau will give DJ King a jersey as the Rangers lineup includes several known pugilists including one Derek Boogaard. I would love to see that matchup.  

Joe’s prediction: Caps 5 NYR 2



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