Game #73 Washington Capitals at New Jersey Devils

Where: Prudential Arena, Newark, NJ

When:  March 18, 2011, 7:30 PM

History:           

Caps Record on this Date: 10-6-2-2

Caps Game 73 Record: 19-13-2-0

All-Time vs. NJ: 75-58-8-9

All-Time at NJ: 30-36-4-4

Last Season vs. NJ: 1-2-1

Last Meeting: 12/21/10, WAS 5 NJ 1

Season Series: 2-1-0

This Year:

WAS Record: 41-21-10

Standings Points: 92

Division Rank: 1st

Conference Rank: 2nd

Last Game: 3/16/11, WAS 2 DET 3

Streak: Loss 1

NJ Record: 33-33-4

Standings Points: 70

Division Rank: 4th

Conference Rank: 12th    

Last Game: 3/17/11, NJ 1 OTT 3

Streak: Loss 1

Probable Line-Ups:     

Washington

Forward Line 1: 8 OVECHKIN, 21 LAICH, 28 SEMIN

Forward Line 2: 18 STURM, 90 JOHANSSON, 22 KNUBLE

Forward Line 3: 25 CHIMERA, 83 BEAGLE, 26 HENDRICKS

Forward Line 4: 17 KING, 15 GORDON, 10 BRADLEY

Defense Pair 1: 23 HANNAN, 6 WIDEMAN

Defense Pair 2: 27 ALZNER, 74 CARLSON

Defense Pair 3: 55 SCHULTZ, 89 SLOAN

Goalie: 30 NEUVIRTH

Back-up Goalie: 70 HOLTBY

New Jersey

Forward Line 1: 17 KOVALCHUK, 19 ZAJAC, 32 PALMIERI

Forward Line 2: 12 ROLSTON, 26 ELIAS, 8 ZUBRUS

Forward Line 3: 21 TEDENBY, 16 JOSEFSON, 23 CLARKSON

Forward Line 4: 18 ZHARKOV, 25 STECKEL, 11 MAIR

Defense Pair 1: 6 GREENE, 29 SALMELA

Defense Pair 2: 7 TALLINDER, 34 FAYNE

Defense Pair 3: 5 WHITE, 28 VOLCHENKOV

Goalie: 30 BRODEUR

Back-up Goalie: 1 HEDBERG

Injuries:

Washington – 3 POTI (upper body) IR, (upper body) IR, 52 GREEN (head) IR, 1 VARLAMOV (undisclosed) DTD, 19 BACKSTROM (hand) DTD, 44 ARNOTT (undisclosed) DTD, 4 ERSKINE (undisclosed) DTD, 16 FEHR (undisclosed) DTD

NJ – CORRENTE (shoulder) IR, TAOMINA (ANKLE) IR, PARISE (knee) IR, SALVADOR (concussion) IR

Caps Milestones:

Jason Arnott needs 2 goals to reach 400 in his career.

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

Alex Ovechkin needs 2 goals to reach 300 in his career.

Preview:

Two of the hottest teams in the league will tangle tonight in Newark. New Jersey is attempting to climb from last to playoff spot and has gone 23-4-2 over the last 29 games but a big loss in Ottawa last night will make this team even more desperate. The Capitals on the other hand saw their 9-game winning streak snapped in Detroit and have been losing players left and right. The Caps are missing 3 forwards, 3 defensemen, and a goalie but have been playing exceptional team hockey. It should be a playoff type atmosphere in Newark so look for a tight physical low scoring game. Once again for the Capitals they will need to concentrate on the special teams. The power play has been suspect so look for simplification there. I expect the Caps to get back to their winning ways and watch for a breakout game from Alexander Semin.

Joe’s prediction: Caps 2 NJ 1

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