Game #67 Washington Capitals vs. Boston Bruins

Where: Verizon Center, Washington, DC

When: March 3, 2008, 7:00 PM

History:
Caps Record on this Date: 8-4-1-0
Caps Game 67 Record: 15-12-4-0
All-Time vs. BOS: 33-60-21-6
Last Season vs. BOS: 0-0-4
Last Meeting: 1/3/08, WAS 0 BOS 2

This Year:
WAS Record: 30-28-8
Standings Points: 68
Division Rank: 2^nd
Conference Rank: 11^th
Last Game: 3/1/08, WAS 2 TOR 3
Streak: Loss 1

BOS Record: 35-23-6
Standings Points: 76
Division Rank: 3^rd
Conference Rank: 6^th
Last Game: 3/1/08, BOS 3 ATL 2 (OT-SO)
Streak: Won 6

Probable Line-Ups:
Washington
Forward Line 1: 8 OVECHKIN, 19 BACKSTROM, 25 KOZLOV
Forward Line 2: 28 SEMIN, 91 FEDOROV, 43 FLEISCHMANN
Forward Line 3: 24 COOKE, 39 STECKEL, 21 LAICH
Forward Line 4: 87 BRASHEAR, 15 GORDON, 10 BRADLEY
Defense Pair 1: 26 MORRISONN, 52 GREEN
Defense Pair 2: 23 JURCINA, 4 POTI
Defense Pair 3: 55 SCHULTZ, 44 EMINGER
Goalie: 37 KOLZIG, 33 HUET
Back-up Goalie: 1 JOHNSON

Boston
Forward Line 1: 11 AXELSSON, 91 SAVARD, 27 MURRAY
Forward Line 2: 16 STURM, 13 METROPOLIT, 81 KESSEL
Forward Line 3: 72 SCHAEFER, 46 KREJCI, 12 KOBASEW
Forward Line 4: 17 LUCIC, 56 NOKELAINEN, 22 THORNTON
Defense Pair 1: 6 WIDEMAN, 33 CHARA
Defense Pair 2: 21 FERENCE, 44 WARD
Defense Pair 3: 45 STUART, 34 HNIDY
Goalie: 29 AULD
Back-up Goalie: 30 THOMAS

Injuries:
Washington – 17 CLARK (groin) DTD, 92 NYLANDER (shoulder) IR, 2 POTHIER (head) IR
Boston – 37 BERGERON (concussion, broken nose) IR, 36 ZHAMNOV (ankle) IR, 35 FERNANDEZ (knee) IR, 36 ZHAMNOV (ankle) IR

Caps Milestones:
Donald Brashear needs 1 Points to reach 200 for his career
Tom Poti needs 5 Shots on Goal to reach 1,100 for his career
Alex Ovechkin needs 1 Goals to reach 50 for this season

Preview:

The Capitals suffered a big defeat to Toronto on Saturday and now face a Boston team that has won its last 6 games. The Caps face the Bruins three more times this season so they better figure out how to beat them to get back into the playoff hunt. In the last nine games against Boston the Caps are 1-3-5. Not exactly stellar but the Caps have the ability to beat any team but have not been able to put together a string of consistent efforts. They have beaten the best teams in the NHL and lost to the worst. Its part of learning how to win but it’s painful to watch sometimes. If the Caps have learned their lesson from Saturday then watch for a tenacious forecheck, frequent drives on the net and staying within the team’s system. If they can do that they can win this game.

Joe’s prediction: Caps 4 BOS 3

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