Game #13 New York Rangers at Washington Capitals

Where: Verizon Center, Washington, DC

When: November 8, 2008, 7:00 PM

History:
Caps Record on this Date: 3-6-2-0
Caps Game 13 Record: 15-14-4-0
All-Time vs. NYR: 82-74-18-4
All-Time Home vs. NYR: 47-31-9-3
Last Season vs. NYR: 2-2-0
Last Meeting: 2/10/08, WAS 2 NYR 1

This Year:
WAS Record: 6-4-2
Standings Points: 14
Division Rank: 2nd
Conference Rank: 8th
Last Game: 11/6/08, WAS 3 CAR 2
Streak: Win 1

NYR Record: 11-4-1
Standings Points: 23
Division Rank: 1st
Conference Rank: 1st
Last Game: 11/6/08, NYR 5 TAM 2
Streak: Win 1

Probable Line-Ups:
Washington
Forward Line 1: 8 OVECHKIN, 19 BACKSTROM, 28 SEMIN
Forward Line 2: 14 FLEISCHMANN, 92 NYLANDER, 25 KOZLOV
Forward Line 3: 21 LAICH, 39 STECKEL, 16 FEHR
Forward Line 4: 87 BRASHEAR, 15 GORDON, 10 BRADLEY
Defense Pair 1: 55 SCHULTZ, 52 GREEN
Defense Pair 2: 89 SLOAN, 3 POTI
Defense Pair 3: 23 JURCINA, 4 ERSKINE
Goalie: 1 JOHNSON
Back-up Goalie: 60 THEODORE

New York
Forward Line 1: 91 NASLUND, 19 GOMEZ, 24 CALLAHAN
Forward Line 2: 10 DAWES, 23 DRURY, 25 PRUCHA
Forward Line 3: 13 ZHERDEV, 17 DUBINSKY, 34 VOROS
Forward Line 4: 20 SJOSTROM, 15 BETTS, 28 ORR
Defense Pair 1: 18 STAAL, 27 MARA
Defense Pair 2: 5 GIRARDI, 6 REDDEN
Defense Pair 3: 3 ROZSIVAL, 45 KALININ
Goalie: 30 LUNDQVIST
Back-up Goalie: 40 VALIQUETTE

Injuries:
Washington – 2 POTHIER (concussion) IR, 26 MORRISONN (groin) DTD, 91 FEDOROV (undisclosed) DTD, 17 CLARK (undisclosed) DTD
New York – 51 BARNES (undisclosed) IR

Caps Milestones:
Victor Kozlov needs 1 point to reach 500 in his career.
Matt Bradley needs 4 points to reach 100 in his career.
Donald Brashear needs 4 penalty minutes to become the 42nd Cap to reach 300 with the team.

Preview:
The Caps are still very inconsistent but were able to pull out a dramatic victory over Carolina on Thursday. Tonight the face the NHL standings point leading New York Rangers. Granted the Rangers have played 2 more games than anyone else in the conference but they still have the same number of losses as the Caps. Head Coach Bruce Boudreau tried to shake things up a bit by putting Alex Ovechkin, Alexander Semin and Sergei Fedorov on the same line last game. The trio scored one goal before Fedorov was injured but the two Alex combo provided two more goals to get the win. With the all eggs in one basket approach the coach is hoping to get Ovechkin to snap out of his snake bit streak of 8 games without a goal. With injuries to Shaone Morrisonn, Sergei Fedorov and Chris Clark, Tyler Sloan, who was recalled from Hershey, Eric Fehr and Dave Steckel will get the start. Look for the Caps to simplify their play in the defensive end and try to get the forecheck going. Watch the top line again as the Caps pair Ovechkin and Semin with Backstrom. I’m not too sure what we get tonight but expect a big crowd and hopefully the team can put together a good effort.

Joe’s prediction: Caps 3 NYR 2

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