Game #34 Washington Capitals at Philadelphia Flyers

Where: Wachovia Center, Philadelphia, PA

When: December 20, 2008, 1:00 PM

History:
Caps Record on this Date: 5-4-4-0
Caps Game 34 Record: 11-16-4-2
All-Time vs. PHI: 64-92-19-0
All-Time at PHI: 28-55-6-0
Last Season vs. PHI: 2-2-0
Last Meeting: 4/22/08, WAS 2 PHI 3 (OT)

This Year:
WAS Record: 20-10-3
Standings Points: 43
Division Rank: 1st
Conference Rank: 3rd
Last Game: 12/18/08, WAS 4 STL 2
Streak: Win 5

PHI Record: 17-8-6
Standings Points: 40
Division Rank: 2nd
Conference Rank: 4th
Last Game: 12/18/08, PHI 2 MON 5
Streak: Loss 1

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, 33 GIROUX
Defense Pair 1: 52 GREEN, 26 MORRISONN
Defense Pair 2: 63 COLLINS, 3 POTI
Defense Pair 3: 23 JURCINA, 47 ALZNER
Goalie: 1 JOHNSON
Back-up Goalie: 60 THEODORE

Philadelphia
Forward Line 1: 19 HARTNELL, 17 CARTER, 22 KNUBLE
Forward Line 2: 12 GAGNE, 18 RICHARDS, 45 ASHAM
Forward Line 3: 32 COTE, 13 METROPOLIT, 9 UPSHALL
Forward Line 4: 14 NODL, 36 POWE, 15 LUPUL
Defense Pair 1: 25 CARLE, 5 COBURN
Defense Pair 2: 23 VAANANEN, 44 TIMONEN
Defense Pair 3: 47 SBISA, 41 ALBERTS
Goalie: 43 BIRON
Back-up Goalie: 30 NITTYMAKI

Injuries:
Washington – 2 POTHIER (concussion) IR, 91 FEDOROV (ankle) DTD, 55 SCHULTZ (broken finger) IR, 4 ERSKINE (undisclosed) DTD, 17 CLARK (forearm) IR, 89 SLOAN (foot) DTD, (shoulder) DTD, 28 SEMIN (back) DTD
Philadelphia – 48 BRIERE (GROIN) IR, 61 BEAULIEU (undisclosed) IR, 77 PARENT (torn labrum) IR, 2 HATCHER (knee) IR, 4 RATHJE (BACK) IR

Caps Milestones:
Brooks Laich needs 6 points to reach 100 in his career.
Mike Green needs 9 points to reach 100 in his career.
Tom Poti needs 10 points to reach 300 in his career.
Chris Clark needs 4 penalty minutes to reach 600 in his career.

Preview:
For the first time since the seventh game of the first round of last season’s playoffs the Capitals will meet the Flyers. Both teams are on a roll as of late and this game is shaping up to be a good one. The Caps are still banged up and may be without Alexander Semin who took a cross check to the back in the game on Thursday. Look for there to be lots of hitting with Alex Ovechkin leading the way. He is tied for the 2nd most hits in the NHL this season with 112 in 31 games. Watch the secondary scoring as that will most likely be the difference maker in this one. I’m thinking Brooks Laich may hit the score sheet. I expect a hard hitting and extremely fast paced game with quite a bit of scoring.

Joe’s prediction: Caps 4 PHI 3

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