Where: Nassau Coliseum, Long Island, NY
When: December 16, 2008, 7:00 PM
History:
Caps Record on this Date: 6-3-3-0
Caps Game 32 Record: 16-15-2-0
All-Time vs. NYI: 81-79-13-2
All-Time at NYI: 38-46-2-1
Last Season vs. NYI: 1-2-2
Last Meeting: 12/4/08, WAS 5 NYI 2
This Year:
WAS Record: 18-10-3
Standings Points: 39
Division Rank: 1st
Conference Rank: 3rd
Last Game: 12/13/08, WAS 2 MON 1
Streak: Win 3
NYI Record: 10-18-2
Standings Points: 22
Division Rank: 5th
Conference Rank: 14th
Last Game: 12/8/08, BOS 5 TAM 3
Streak: Loss 6
Probable Line-Ups:
Washington
Forward Line 1: 8 OVECHKIN, 19 BACKSTROM, 28 SEMIN
Forward Line 2: 33 GIROUX, 92 NYLANDER, 25 KOZLOV
Forward Line 3: 21 LAICH, 15 GORDON, 16 FEHR
Forward Line 4: 87 BRASHEAR, 39 STECKEL, 10 BRADLEY
Defense Pair 1: 52 GREEN, 26 MORRISONN
Defense Pair 2: 3 POTI, 89 SLOAN
Defense Pair 3: 23 JURCINA, 47 ALZNER
Goalie: 1 JOHNSON
Back-up Goalie: 40 VARLAMOV
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, 55 SCHULTZ (broken finger) IR, 4 ERSKINE (undisclosed) DTD, 17 CLARK (forearm) IR, 16 FEHR (shoulder) DTD, 14 FLEISCHMANN (lower body) DTD, 60 THEODORE (hip flexor) DTD
Islanders – 39 DIPETRO (knee) IR, 8 GERVAIS (leg) DTD, 24 MARTINEK (shoulder) DTD, 89 COMRIE (hip) IR, 51 NIELSON (leg) IR, 21 OKPOSO (arm) IR
Caps Milestones:
Brooks Laich needs 7 points to reach 100 in his career.
Shaone Morrisonn needs 2 penalty minutes to reach 300 in his career.
Preview:
The Capitals are coming off a big win in Montreal and head to Long Island to take on the Islanders. For the Caps the victory came with another big price as they lost Sergei Fedorov with a reoccurrence of his ankle injury. The Caps are still thin on defense and have kept rookie Sean Collins with the team as a precaution. The goaltending situation is still on end with Jose Theodore nursing a hip flexor injury. For now Simeon Varlamov will serve as Brent Johnson’s backup. The Islanders are in a tailspin having lost 5 consecutive games including the Dec. 2nd game at Verizon Center. However, the Caps cannot afford to take them lightly. Look for the team to try and get out to a fast start and take the heart out of the Islanders. Watch for the number one line as Alexander Semin’s return should take some of the defensive pressure off of Alex Ovechkin. I think the Caps will be too much in this one.
Joe’s prediction: Caps 6 NYI 2
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