Game #61 Washington Capitals vs. New York Islanders

Where: Verizon Center, Washington, DC

When: February 20, 2008, 7:00 PM

History:
Caps Record on this Date: 4-6-2-0
Caps Game 61 Record: 14-12-4-1
All-Time vs. NYI: 80-79-13-1
Last Season vs. NYI: 1-3-0
Last Meeting: 12/22/07, WAS 2 NYI 3 (OT)

This Year:
WAS Record: 28-26-6
Standings Points: 62
Division Rank: 2^nd
Conference Rank: 11^th
Last Game: 2/16/08, WAS 3 TAM 2
Streak: Won 1

NYI Record: 28-25-7
Standings Points: 63
Division Rank: 5^th
Conference Rank: 10^th
Last Game: 2/18/2008, NYI 3 SAN 2
Streak: Won 4

Game 1: 10/8/07, WAS 2 NYI 1
Game 2: 10/18/07, WAS 2 NYI 5
Game 3: 12/22/07, WAS 2 NYI 3 (OT)

Probable Line-Ups:
Washington
Forward Line 1: 8 OVECHKIN, 19 BACKSTROM, 25 KOZLOV
Forward Line 2: 28 SEMIN, 21 LAICH, 43 FLEISCHMANN
Forward Line 3: 53 LAING, 39 STECKEL, 10 BRADLEY
Forward Line 4: 87 BRASHEAR, 15 GORDON, 14 FEHR
Defense Pair 1: 26 MORRISONN, 52 GREEN
Defense Pair 2: 23 JURCINA, 44 EMINGER
Defense Pair 3: 4 ERSKINE, 55 SCHULTZ
Goalie: 37 KOLZIG
Back-up Goalie: 1 JOHNSON

Islanders
Forward Line 1: 20 BERGENHEIM, 89 COMRIE, 13 GUERIN
Forward Line 2: 26 FEDOTENKO, 63 VASICEK, 7 HUNTER
Forward Line 3: 57 COMEAU, 11 HILBERT, 81 SATAN
Forward Line 4: 15 TAMBELLINI, 51 NIELSON, 10 PARK
Defense Pair 1: 24 MARTINEK, 25 SUTTON
Defense Pair 2: 8 GERVAIS, 44 MEYER
Defense Pair 3: 47 BERGERON, 4 BERARD
Goalie: 39 DIPIETRO
Back-up Goalie: 34 DUBIELEWICZ

Injuries:
Washington – 17 CLARK (groin) DTD, 92 NYLANDER (shoulder) IR, 2 POTHIER (head) IR, 3 POTI (leg) DTD
Islanders – 25 SUTTON (hamstring) DTD, 57 COMEAU (head) DTD, 32 WITT (knee) IR, 18 SILLINGER (hip) IR, 14 CAMPOLI (shoulder) IR, 17 BATES (hip) IR, 2 JOHNSON (knee) IR, 16 SIM (knee) IR

Caps Milestones:
Tomas Fleischmann will play in his 100^th career game
Donald Brashear needs 2 Points to reach 200 for his career
Matt Pettinger needs 2 Points to reach 100 for his career

Preview:
The Caps square off with the Islanders in another game with standing’s places in the balance. The Islanders are one place ahead of the Caps in the Eastern Conference. Both teams need points to keep their playoff hopes alive. The Caps are hoping Alex Ovechkin has no lingering symptoms from the flu that was bothering him this past weekend. Alex went pointless and hitless in the last two games. The Isles are a bit banged up but have put together a four game winning streak. Look for the Caps to try and get an early lead. It has been difficult for the Caps as of late, they have 3 first period goals in their last ten games. There are only 22 games left in the season so they better put it in gear soon. The good news is that Nicklas Backstrom is still hot, 5 points in the last 5 games, Alex Semin is heating up, 6 points in his last 5 games, and Olie Kolzig has very effective lately.

Joe’s prediction: Caps 4 NYI 2

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