Game #26 New York Islanders at Washington Capitals

Where: Verizon Center, Washington, DC

When: December 4, 2008, 7:00 PM

History:
Caps Record on this Date: 7-8-1-0
Caps Game 26 Record: 14-16-3-0
All-Time vs. NYI: 80-79-13-2
All-Time home vs. NYI: 42-33-11-1
Last Season vs. NYI: 1-1-2
Last Meeting: 2/20/08, WAS 2 NYI 3 (OT-SO)

This Year:
WAS Record: 13-9-3
Standings Points: 29
Division Rank: 1st
Conference Rank: 3rd
Last Game: 12/2/08, WAS 3 FLA 5
Streak: Loss 2

NYI Record: 10-12-2
Standings Points: 22
Division Rank: 5th
Conference Rank: 13th
Last Game: 11/29/08, NYI 4 OTT 2
Streak: Loss 3

Probable Line-Ups:
Washington
Forward Line 1: 8 OVECHKIN, 19 BACKSTROM, 25 KOZLOV
Forward Line 2: 14 FLEISCHMANN, 92 NYLANDER, 16 FEHR
Forward Line 3: 21 LAICH, 39 STECKEL 10 BRADLEY
Forward Line 4: 87 BRASHEAR, 15 GORDON, 56 BOURQUE
Defense Pair 1: 42 LEPISTO, 26 MORRISONN
Defense Pair 2: 89 SLOAN, 43 HELMER
Defense Pair 3: 23 JURCINA, 47 ALZNER
Goalie: 60 THEODORE
Back-up Goalie: 1 JOHNSON

Islanders
Forward Line 1: 20 BERGENHEIM, 93 WEIGHT, 13 GUERIN
Forward Line 2: 11 HILBERT, 12 BAILEY, 7 HUNTER
Forward Line 3: 15 TAMBELLINI, 10 PARK, 16 SIM
Forward Line 4: 49 FRITZ, 18 SILLINGER, 28 JACKMAN
Defense Pair 1: 14 CAMPOLI, 2 STREIT
Defense Pair 2: 25 SUTTON, 44 MEYER
Defense Pair 3: 32 WITT, 17 POCK
Goalie: 25 MACDONALD
Back-up Goalie: 34 DANIS

Injuries:
Washington – 2 POTHIER (concussion) IR, 91 FEDOROV (ankle) DTD, 28 SEMIN (upper body) IR, 52 GREEN (shoulder) IR, 55 SCHULTZ (broken finger) IR, 3 POTI (groin) DTD, 4 ERSKINE (undisclosed) DTD, 17 CLARK (forearm) IR
Islanders – 39 DIPETRO (knee) IR, 8 GERVAIS (leg) DTD, 24 MARTINEK (shoulder) DTD, 89 COMRIE (hip) IR, 51 NIELSON (leg) IR, 18 SILLINGER (hip) DTD, 45 THOMPSON (groin) DTD, 21 OKPOSO (arm) IR

Caps Milestones:
Matt Bradley needs 1 point to reach 100 in his career.
Nicklas Backstrom needs 8 points to reach 100 in his career.
Chris Clark needs 4 penalty minutes to reach 600 in his career.
Shaone Morrisonn needs 4 penalty minutes to reach 300 in his career.

Preview:
After a bad game Tuesday night and a verbal ripping from the coach, the Caps will try to rebound against the NY Islanders tonight. The coach was very critical of the effort put forth by the team. There was no energy and no accountability in the game and for a team without seven of its regular players, that’s not going to get it done. Look for the Caps to be much better against the Islanders. The team cannot rely on talent alone to get goals. They need to outwork the opposition and force them to defend the entire team not just the top line. The Caps have not fared well against the Islanders in the last three seasons. The Caps are just 3-7-2 in that span. Watch for the Caps to come out flying. If not, the W will be hard to come by. Personally, I think they will and I’d hate to be the Islanders tonight.

Joe’s prediction: Caps 5 NYI 1

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