Game #20 Washington Capitals at San Jose Sharks

Where: HP Pavilion, San Jose, CA

When: November 22, 2008, 10:30 PM

History:
Caps Record on this Date: 7-5-1-1
Caps Game 20 Record: 12-16-3-2
All-Time vs. SAN: 8-14-1-1
All-Time at SAN: 3-7-1-0
Last Season vs. SAN: Did not play
Last Meeting: 2/21/07, WAS 2 SAN 3 (OT-SO)

This Year:
WAS Record: 11-5-3
Standings Points: 25
Division Rank: 1st
Conference Rank: 3rd
Last Game: 11/19/08, WAS 6 ANA 4
Streak: Loss 1

SAN Record: 16-3-1
Standings Points: 33
Division Rank: 1st
Conference Rank: 1st
Last Game: 11/17/08, SAN 4 NAS 1
Streak: Win 3

Probable Line-Ups:
Washington
Forward Line 1: 8 OVECHKIN, 19 BACKSTROM, 25 KOZLOV
Forward Line 2: 14 FLEISCHMANN, 92 NYLANDER, 17 CLARK
Forward Line 3: 21 LAICH, 39 STECKEL, 16 FEHR
Forward Line 4: 87 BRASHEAR, 15 GORDON, 10 BRADLEY
Defense Pair 1: 55 SCHULTZ, 26 MORRISONN
Defense Pair 2: 89 SLOAN, 3 POTI
Defense Pair 3: 23 JURCINA, 4 ERSKINE
Goalie: 60 THEODORE
Back-up Goalie: 1 JOHNSON

San Jose
Forward Line 1: 12 MARLEAU, 19 THORNTON, 16 SATOGUCHI
Forward Line 2: 29 CLOWE, 8 PAVELSKI, 9 MICHALEK
Forward Line 3: 39 PLIHAL, 11 GOC, 14 CHEECHOO
Forward Line 4: 45 SHELLEY, 27 ROENICK, 25 GRIER
Defense Pair 1: 22 BOYLE, 37 LUKOWICH
Defense Pair 2: 4 BLAKE, 44 VLASIC
Defense Pair 3: 3 MURRAY, 10 EHRHOFF
Goalie: 20 NABOKOV
Back-up Goalie: 33 BOUCHER

Injuries:
Washington – 2 POTHIER (concussion) IR, 91 FEDOROV (undisclosed) DTD, 28 SEMIN (upper body) DTD, 52 GREEN (upper body) DTD
San Jose – MITCHELL (broken leg) IR

Caps Milestones:
Matt Bradley needs 3 points to reach 100 in his career.
Chris Clark needs 4 penalty minutes to reach 600 in his career.
Brooks Laich needs 4 shots on goal to reach 400 in his career.

Preview:
The Caps took a beating in LA and try to rebound against the number one team in the NHL. San Jose has been unbeatable at home and has lost only 3 times in regulation this season. The Sharks expect their number one goalie, Evgeni Nabokov, back in the net for the match up with the Caps. Look for the Caps to bring much more energy to the start of this game. A slow start killed the Caps in the last game. Watch for Alex Ovechkin as San Jose is the only team in the NHL he has not recorded a point against. He’s played them twice, recording 4 shots on goal and 10 hits. This should be a great game and a big measuring stick for the team.

Joe’s prediction: Caps 4 SAN 3

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