Game #65 Preview: St. Louis Blues at Washington Capitals

Where: Verizon Center, Washington, DC

When:  March 3, 2011, 7:00 PM

History:           

Caps Record on this Date: 10-5-1-0

Caps Game 65 Record: 12-16-5-1

All-Time vs. STL: 36-36-12-1

All-Time at home vs. STL: 22-14-4-0

Last Season vs. STL: 0-0-1

Last Meeting: 12/1/10, WAS 4 STL 1

Season Series: 1-0-0

This Year:

WAS Record: 34-20-10

Standings Points: 78

Division Rank: 2nd

Conference Rank: 5th

Last Game: 3/1/11, WAS 2 NYI 1

Streak: Win 2

STL Record: 28-26-9

Standings Points: 65

Division Rank: 5th

Conference Rank: 13th

Last Game: 3/1/11, STL 0 CAL 6

Streak: Lost 2

Probable Line-Ups:     

Washington

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

Forward Line 2: 21 LAICH, 44 ARNOTT, 28 SEMIN

Forward Line 3:18 STURM, 90 JOHANSSON, 25 CHIMERA

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

Defense Pair 1: 23 HANNAN, 6 WIDEMAN

Defense Pair 2: 27 ALZNER, 74 CARLSON

Defense Pair 3: 55 SCHULTZ, 4 ERSKINE

Goalie: 30 NEUVIRTH

Back-up Goalie: ???

St. Louis

Forward Line 1: 10 MCDONALD, 42 BACKES, 36 D’AGOSTINI

Forward Line 2: 74 OSHIE, 21 BERGLUND, 25 STEWART

Forward Line 3: 32 PORTER, 20 STEEN, 26 CROMBEEN

Forward Line 4: 75 REAVES, 79 CRACKNELL, 55 JANSSEN

Defense Pair 1: 5 JACKMAN, 46 POLAK

Defense Pair 2: 28 COLAIACOVO, 33 STRACHAN

Defense Pair 3: 12 SHATTENKIRK, 27 PIETRANGELO

Goalie: 29 CONKLIN

Back-up Goalie: 30 BISHOP

Injuries:

Washington – 3 POTI (upper body) IR, 16 FEHR (upper body) IR, 52 GREEN (head) DTD, 1 VARLAMOV (undisclosed) DTD

STL – SOBOTKA (foot) IR, MCRAE (lower body) IR, HALAK (hand) IR, PERRON (concussion) IR

Caps Milestones:

Brooks Laich needs 2 goals to reach 100 in his career.

Jason Arnott needs 4 goals to reach 400 in his career.

Jason Chimera needs 4 goals to reach 100 in his career.

Alex Ovechkin needs 6 goals to reach 300 in his career.

Jason Arnott needs 2 points to reach 900 in his career.

Alex Ovechkin needs 6 points to reach 600 in his career.

Dennis Wideman needs 2 points to reach 200 in his career.

Preview:

The Capitals escaped last game with a win and will look to build on that performance. I am hearing a lot of good things from the new guys, especially Jason Arnott who seems primed to take this team to the next level. We’ll keep an eye on him as the regular season finishes out. Tonight’s opponent was a seller at deadline which means there are a team with nothing to lose and most of their roster is playing for a spot next season. This makes them a very dangerous team to face. Washington needs to get out to a good start and squash any momentum the Blues may have. I expect the Caps’ top two lines to be dominant in the offensive zone and Washington comes away with the win. 

Joe’s prediction: Caps 4 STL 2

Official Preview