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Monday, December 6, 2010

Game #29 Preview: Toronto Maple Leafs at Washington Capitals



Where: Verizon Center, Washington, DC

When:  December 6, 2010 7:00 PM

History:           
Caps Record on this Date: 7-6-1-0
Caps Game 29 Record: 19-12-4-0
All-Time vs. TOR: 56-49-10-4
All-Time Home vs. TOR: 36-21-4-1
Last Season vs. TOR: 2-1-1
Last Meeting: 11/3/10, WAS 5 TOR 4 (OT-SO)

This Year:
WAS Record: 18-8-2
Standings Points: 38
Division Rank: 1st
Conference Rank: 2nd      
Last Game: 12/4/10, WAS 1 ATL 3
Streak: Loss 2

TOR Record: 9-12-4
Standings Points: 22
Division Rank: 5th
Conference Rank: 13th    
Last Game: 12/4/10, TOR 3 BOS 2 (OT-SO)
Streak: Win 1

Probable Line-Ups:     
Washington
Forward Line 1: 8 OVECHKIN, 19 BACKSTROM, 22 KNUBLE
Forward Line 2: 21 LAICH, 90 JOHANSSON, 28 SEMIN
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: 27 ALZNER, 74 CARLSON
Defense Pair 3: 89 SLOAN, 23 HANNAN
Goalie: 30 NEUVIRTH
Back-up Goalie: 1 VARLAMOV

Toronto
Forward Line 1: 16 MACARTHUR, 84 GRABOVSKI, 41 KULEMIN
Forward Line 2: 32 VERSTEEG, 81 KESSEL, 9 ARMSTRONG
Forward Line 3: 11 SJOSTROM, 42 BOZAK, 37 BRENT
Forward Line 4: 38 ROSEHILL, 43 KADRI, 28 ORR
Defense Pair 1: 2 SCHENN, 22 BEAUCHEMIN
Defense Pair 2: 8 KOMISEREK, 15 KABERLE
Defense Pair 3: 59 AULIE, 36 GUNNARSSON
Goalie: 35 GIGUERE
Back-up Goalie: 50 GUSTVASSON

Injuries:
Washington – 3 POTI (lower body) DTD, 4 ERSKINE (lower body) DTD

Toronto – 9 ARMSTRONG (finger) IR, BROWN (finger) IR, PHANEUF (leg) IR

Caps Milestones:
Jason Chimera needs 1 point to reach 200 in his career.
Mike Knuble needs 8 points to reach 500 in his career.

Preview:

The Toronto Maple Leafs come to Verizon Center to face a Capitals team that has lost two consecutive games where they failed to score more than one goal. Look for the Capitals to break out of the goal scoring slump. Alex Ovechkin broke his personal 9-game goalless streak with a goal on Saturday against the Thrashers. Ovechkin and the rest of the team need to get better shots on the net and that comes with hard work. The Caps put 46 shots on net but did not have many rebound or deflection attempts. Tonight’s game will be another hardworking game as Toronto never seems to go away and the Caps have struggled with them in the recent past. I expect the Caps to pour on the pressure early and try to get on the board first. Look out for Ovechkin who is due for a big game.

Joe’s prediction: Caps 5 TOR 2



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