Game #15 Preview: Washington Capitals at New York Rangers

Where: Madison Square Garden, New York, NY

When:  November 9, 2010 7:30 PM

History:           

Caps Record on this Date: 5-9-2-0

Caps Game 15 Record: 14-15-4-2

All-Time vs. NYR: 88-75-18-5

All-Time at NYR: 38-43-9-2

Last Season vs. NYR: 3-1-0

Last Meeting: 3/6/10, WAS 2 NYR 0

This Year:

WAS Record: 10-4-0

Standings Points: 20

Division Rank: 1st

Conference Rank: 1st      

Last Game: 11/7/10, WAS 3 PHI 2 (OT)

Streak: Win 4

NYR Record: 7-6-1

Standings Points: 15

Division Rank: 2nd

Conference Rank: 6th    

Last Game: 11/7/10, NYR 0 STL 2

Streak: Loss 1

Probable Line-Ups:     

Washington

Forward Line 1: 8 OVECHKIN, 19 BACKSTROM, 28 SEMIN

Forward Line 2: 14 FLEISCHMANN, 21 LAICH, 22 KNUBLE

Forward Line 3: 25 CHIMERA, 15 GORDON, 16 FEHR

Forward Line 4: 26 HENDRICKS, 39 STECKEL, 10 BRADLEY

Defense Pair 1: 55 SCHULTZ, 52 GREEN

Defense Pair 2: 4 ERSKINE, 74 CARLSON

Defense Pair 3: 27 ALZNER, 89 SLOAN

Goalie: 30 NEUVIRTH

Back-up Goalie: 70 HOLTBY

New York

Forward Line 1: 17 DUBINSKY, 42 ANISIMOV, 24 CALLAHAN

Forward Line 2: 31 FROLOV, 26 CHRISTENSEN, 19 FEDOTENKO

Forward Line 3: 16 AVERY, 22 BOYLE, 8 PRUST

Forward Line 4: 94 BOOGAARD, 21 STEPAN, 91 GRAVCHEV

Defense Pair 1: 18 STAAL, 33 ROZSIVAL

Defense Pair 2: 4 DEL ZOTTO, 5 GIRARDI

Defense Pair 3: 44 EMINGER, 38 SAUER

Goalie: 30 LUNDQVIST

Back-up Goalie: 43 BIRON

Injuries:

Washington –1 VARLAMOV (groin) IR, 3 POTI (lower body) IR

NYR – 10 GABORIK (shoulder) IR, 23 DRURY (broken finger) IR, 20 PROSPAL (back) IR

Caps Milestones:

Nicklas Backstrom needs 1 assists to reach 200 in his career.

Brooks Laich needs 3 points to reach 200 in his career.

Jason Chimera needs 6 points to reach 200 in his career.

Preview:

After completing a sweep on a three game home stand, the Capitals take their 4-game winning streak to the big apple for a meeting with the New York Rangers. The Rangers are second in the Atlantic Division and are coming a shutout loss on Sunday. The Caps have started to even out their game but still need to compete for a full 60-minutes on a consistent basis. Alexander Semin and Mike Green each have 4-game goal scoring streaks going and are playing with a ton of confidence. Semin looks to be a more complete player this season as he has put in excellent work on the forecheck and defensive end of the ice. Look for the Capitals to try and start fast against the blueshirts. The Caps have only scored 6 first period goals this season and never more than 1 in a game. I think the game will be even for the first period but the Caps will take over the game in the second. It should be interesting to see if Head Coach Bruce Boudreau will give DJ King a jersey as the Rangers lineup includes several known pugilists including one Derek Boogaard. I would love to see that matchup.  

Joe’s prediction: Caps 5 NYR 2

Capitals Official Preview