Game #46 Preview: Ottawa Senators at Washington Capitals

Where: Verizon Center, Washington, DC

When:  January 16, 2011, 3:00 PM

History:           

Caps Record on this Date: 5-6-4-0

Caps Game 46 Record: 15-14-5-1

All-Time vs. OTT: 33-28-5-3

All-Time at home vs. OTT: 19-11-4-1

Last Season vs. OTT: 1-1-2

Last Meeting: 12/19/10, WAS 3 OTT 2

Season Series: 2-0-0

This Year:

WAS Record: 24-14-7

Standings Points: 55

Division Rank: 2nd

Conference Rank: 6th

Last Game: 1/14/11, WAS 2 VAN 4

Streak: Loss 3

OTT Record: 17-22-6

Standings Points: 40

Division Rank: 5th

Conference Rank: 13th    

Last Game: 1/14/11, OTT 2 CAL 3

Streak: Loss 1

Probable Line-Ups:     

Washington

Forward Line 1: 8 OVECHKIN, 19 BACKSTROM, 22 KNUBLE

Forward Line 2: 25 CHIMERA, 90 JOHANSSON, 83 BEAGLE

Forward Line 3: 21 LAICH, 85 PERRAULT, 39 STECKEL

Forward Line 4: 26 HENDRICKS, 15 GORDON, 17 KING

Defense Pair 1: 52 GREEN, 23 HANNAN

Defense Pair 2: 27 ALZNER, 74 CARLSON

Defense Pair 3: 55 SCHULTZ, 4 ERSKINE

Goalie: 1 VARLAMOV

Back-up Goalie: 30 NEUVIRTH

Ottawa

Forward Line 1: 9 MICHALEK, 12 FISHER, 11 ALFREDSSON

Forward Line 2: 71 FOLIGNO, 37 LOCKE, 26 SHANNON

Forward Line 3: 73 RUUTU, 22 KELLY, 25 NEIL

Forward Line 4: 15 SMITH, 18 WINCHESTER, 13 REGIN

Defense Pair 1: 4 PHILLIPS, 65 KARLSSON

Defense Pair 2: 55 GONCHAR, 14 CAMPOLI

Defense Pair 3: 17 KUBA, 39 CARKNER

Goalie: 30 ELLIOT

Back-up Goalie: 40 LEHNER

Injuries:

Washington – 3 POTI (upper body) IR, 17 KING (undisclosed) IR, 10 BRADLEY (broken finger) IR, 28 SEMIN (hip) DTD, 14 FEHR (upper body) DTD

OTT – 19 SPEZZA (knee) IR, 27 KOVALEV (ankle) IR, 33 LECLAIRE (lower body) IR

Caps Milestones:

Nicklas Backstrom needs 2 points to reach 300 in his career.

Preview:

Washington will try to rebound from three straight losses with an afternoon game against the Ottawa Senators. The Caps are suffering from a power outage on the power play with just 2 goals on the man advantage in their last 8 games. The prolonged scoring slumps of Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, Alexander Semin and Brooks Laich are most evident on the power play. The boys just don’t seem to have the confidence in their play so they are over passing and trying to make the perfect play. Luckily it is only halfway through the season and these things can be worked out. However, they are going to need to start picking it up sooner rather than later. With their most current loss they have dropped to 6^th place in the Eastern Conference with 9^th place just 7 points behind. Look for a big effort from the Capitals against the Senators as the team needs the two points and a boost to their collective confidence. Look for Nicklas Backstrom to continue his strong play from last game. I get the feeling he is going to connect with Ovie for a couple in this one.

Joe’s prediction: Caps 5 OTT 2

Official Preview