Game #20 Preview: Washington Capitals at Atlanta Thrashers

Where: Phillips Arena, Atlanta, GA

When:  November 19, 2010 7:30 PM

History:           

Caps Record on this Date: 6-6-3-0

Caps Game 20 Record: 12-18-3-2

All-Time vs. ATL: 36-19-5-5

All-Time at ATL: 14-12-2-4

Last Season vs. ATL: 6-0-0

Last Meeting: 11/14/10, WAS 6 ATL 4

This Year:

WAS Record: 14-4-1

Standings Points: 29

Division Rank: 1st

Conference Rank: 1st      

Last Game: 10/17/10, WAS 4 BUF 2

Streak: Win 2

ATL Record: 7-9-3

Standings Points: 17

Division Rank: 4th

Conference Rank: 11th    

Last Game: 11/17/10, ATL 1 FLA 2

Streak: Loss 3

Probable Line-Ups:     

Washington

Forward Line 1: 8 OVECHKIN, 90 JOHANSSON, 22 KNUBLE

Forward Line 2: 21 LAICH, 19 BACKSTROM, 28 SEMIN

Forward Line 3: 25 CHIMERA, 39 STECKEL, 10 BRADLEY

Forward Line 4: 26 HENDRICKS, 15 GORDON, 16 FEHR

Defense Pair 1: 55 SCHULTZ, 52 GREEN

Defense Pair 2: 27 ALZNER, 74 CARLSON

Defense Pair 3: 4 ERSKINE, 89 SLOAN

Goalie: 30 NEUVIRTH

Back-up Goalie: 70 HOLTBY

Atlanta

Forward Line 1: 9 KANE, LITTLE, 22 STEWART

Forward Line 2: 21 EAGER, 80 ANTROPOV, 23 SLATER

Forward Line 3: 16 LADD, 47 PEVERLEY, BERGFORS

Forward Line 4: 36 BOULTON, 49 BURMISTROV, 27 THORBURN

Defense Pair 1: 33 BYFUGLIEN, 39 ENSTROM

Defense Pair 2: 6 HAINSEY, 4 BOGOSIAN

Defense Pair 3: 29 ODUYA, 3 SOPEL

Goalie: 50 MASON

Back-up Goalie: 31 PAVELEC

Injuries:

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

Atlanta – 45 CORMIER (foot) IR

Caps Milestones:

Jason Chimera needs 3 points to reach 200 in his career.

Preview:

The Capitals and Thrashers meet for the fourth time this year in Atlanta tonight. The last game between these two was a shootout that the Caps took 6-4 with two goals in the third. The Caps have shaken up the lineup quite a bit with rookie Marcus Johansson centering the first line and Nicklas Backstrom centering the second line with Alex Semin and Brooks Laich. Semin has continued his offensive torrent with points in 9 straight games including a goal and an assist on Wednesday. The Capitals will look to lock down their defensive game tonight and play complete 60-minutes. They came close on against Buffalo but after putting up a 3-0 lead gave up 2 goals in less than a minute. They will face an Atlanta team that has lost 3 straight but got an emotional boost as Andrew Ladd was named team captain yesterday. It should be another physical game and don’t be surprised if some fists fly. I think the Caps will put in an excellent effort tonight and dominate Atlanta from start to finish.

Joe’s prediction: Caps 6 ATL 1

Official Preview