Game #43 Washington Capitals vs. Colorado Avalanche

Where: Verizon Center, Washington, DC

When: January 9, 2008, 7:00 PM

History:
Caps Record on this Date: 10-4-0-0
Caps Game 43 Record: 13-14-5-0
All-Time vs. COL: 7-6-2-1
Last Season vs. COL: 1-0-0
Last Meeting: 10/25/06, WAS 5 COL 3

This Year:
WAS Record: 17-20-5
Standings Points: 39
Division Rank: 4^th
Conference Rank: 14^th
Last Game: 1/5/2008, WAS 5 MON 4 (OT)
Streak: Won 1

COL Record: 22-16-3
Standings Points: 47
Division Rank: 4^th
Conference Rank: 8^th
Last Game: 1/8/2008, COL 0 DET 1
Streak: Loss 1

Probable Line-Ups:
Washington
Forward Line 1: 8 OVECHKIN, 19 BACKSTROM, 25 KOZLOV
Forward Line 2: 43 FLEISCHMANN, 92 NYLANDER, 28 SEMIN
Forward Line 3: 53 LAING, 39 STECKEL, 15 GORDON
Forward Line 4: 87 BRASHEAR, 21 LAICH, 10 BRADLEY
Defense Pair 1: 26 MORRISONN, 52 GREEN
Defense Pair 2: 23 JURCINA, 55 SCHULTZ
Defense Pair 3: 4 ERSKINE, 44 EMINGER
Goalie: 37 KOLZIG
Back-up Goalie: 35 CASSIVI

Colorado
Forward Line 1: 8 WOLSKI, 26 STASTNY, 23 HEJDUK
Forward Line 2: 17 HLINKA, 11 MCCORMICK, 14 LAPERRIERE
Forward Line 3: 15 BRUNETTE, 37 HENSICK, 28 GUITE
Forward Line 4: 55 MCLEOD, 27 PARKER, 40 SVATOS
Defense Pair 1: 22 HANNAN, 3 SKRASTINS
Defense Pair 2: 4 LILES, 5 CLARK
Defense Pair 3: 6 FINGER, 44 LEOPOLD
Goalie: 31 BUDAJ
Back-up Goalie: 60 THEODORE

Injuries:
Washington – 14 FEHR (hip) IR, 17 CLARK (groin) IR, 1 JOHNSON (knee) IR, 3 POTI (upper body) DTD, 2 POTHIER (head) DTD
Colorado – 11 MCCOMICK (hip) DTD, 94 SMYTH (ankle fracture) IR, 39 ARNASON (wrist) IR, 34 SAUER (neck) IR, 19 SAKIC (hernia)

Caps Milestones:
Matt Pettinger needs 3 Points to reach 100 for his career
Alexander Semin needs 5 Shots on Goal to reach 400 for his career
Michal Nylander needs 1 Goal to reach 200 for his career
Donald Brashear needs 3 Points to reach 200 for his career

Preview:
The Capitals start a long home stand with the Colorado Avalanche who are coming off of a 1-0 defeat at Detroit. The Caps need to continue their aggressive play and force the attack on the Avs who like the Caps have suffered numerous injuries as of late. Look for the Caps fist line to garner a lot of attention from the visitors as Alex Ovechkin is on one of his point binges with 14 points in his last 9 games. The other lines will have to contribute to take give #8 some running room. This one should be close, but the Caps should pull it out.

Joe’s prediction: Caps 4 COL 2

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Washington Capitals Coaching Comparison

Just the facts. A comparison of the Capitals first 21 games vs their second 21 games:

Games	1 to 21	22 to 42	Difference
Wins	6	11	5
Losses	14	6	-8
OT Losses	1	4	3
Shootout Win	0	0	0
Shootout Loss	0	2	2
Standings Points	13	26	13
Goals For	47	70	23
Goals Against	64	67	3
Shots on Goal	612	631	19
Shooting %	8.0%	11.5%	3.5%
PP Goals For	14	16	2
PP Chances	95	85	-10
PP %	14.74%	18.82%	4.09%
PK Goals Against	22	13	-9
PK Chances	101	83	-18
PK %	78.22%	84.34%	6.12%
Hits	404	385	-19
Giveaways	200	223	23
Takeaways	158	162	4
Blocked Shots	223	259	36
Shot Attempts Blocked	348	279	-69
Missed Shots	246	253	7
Face-offs Won	590	598	8
Face-offs Lost	567	626	59
Face-off %	50.99%	48.86%	-2.14%
Penalties	122	97	-25
PIM	282	234	-48
Shots Against	607	552	-55
Saves	545	488	-57
Save %	89.1%	87.7%	-1.4%
Goals Against	62	64	2
Goals Against Average	2.99	3.02	0.03
Empty Net Goals Against	2	1	-1
Shut Outs	1	0	-1

Game #42 Recap - Capitals 5 Canadians 4 (OT)

What if, what if, what if??? What if the Capitals had been on the same pace in fist 21 games as they have in their second 21 games? Well they would have 52 standings points and be second in the Eastern Conference. In my mind I knew this was a better team than results in the first 21 games. Even with injuries to their Captain Chris Clark, their top 2 defensemen, and their second leading scorer from last year they still managed to go into Montreal and come away with a victory. Mike Green scored the game-winning goal yesterday and now the Caps are within a couple of points of getting back into the play-off race. Who would have thought they would be able to come back after getting behind by 2 goals early in the game? The Caps have started to believe that they have the ability to win in this league and they seem to be gaining in confidence with each game. The team is playing an exciting game of hockey that is suited to the talents of their offensive star Alex Ovechkin who now has 32 goals on the year. His two goals yesterday put him alone in second place in the NHL goal scoring race. The team is off until Wednesday where they open a 5-game home stand against the Colorado Avalanche. I look forward to seeing them turn around their home record that is 2 games under .500, and firmly put them in the post season race.

Of Note:

• Mike Green had a goal and two assists giving him 11 goals and 13 assists on the season.
• Alex Ovechkin's two goals gives him 130 for his career. He moves ahead of Alan Haworth into 16th place on the Capitals All-Time Goals list.
• Michal Nylander had two assists moving him into 51st on the Capitals All-Time Assists list moving ahead of Keith Jones and Richard Zednik.
• The Caps out shot Montreal 29-27 and out drew them in the face-off dot 32-24.
• Other contributors on offense included Boyd Gordon and Nicklas Backstrom with a goal each and John Erskine, Tomas Fleischmann, and Jeff Schultz with assists.
• The Caps are 5-2-3 in their last ten games.

Official Recap
Game Summary
Super Stats

Game #42 Washington Capitals at Montreal Canadians

Where: Bell Centre, Montreal, Quebec

When: January 5, 2008, 12:30 PM

History:
Caps Record on this Date: 5-4-3-0
Caps Game 42 Record: 12-17-3-0
All-Time vs. MON: 46-64-17-1
Last Season vs. MON: 1-3-0
Last Meeting: 12/20/07, WAS 2 MON 5

This Year:
WAS Record: 16-20-5
Standings Points: 37
Division Rank: 4^th
Conference Rank: 14^th
Last Game: 1/3/2008, WAS 0 BOS 2
Streak: Loss 1

MON Record: 20-13-7
Standings Points: 47
Division Rank: 2^nd
Conference Rank: 4^th
Last Game: 1/3/2008, MON 6 TAM 3
Streak: Won 1

Probable Line-Ups:
Washington
Forward Line 1: 8 OVECHKIN, 19 BACKSTROM, 25 KOZLOV
Forward Line 2: 43 FLEISCHMANN, 92 NYLANDER, 28 SEMIN
Forward Line 3: 53 LAING, 39 STECKEL, 10 BRADLEY
Forward Line 4: 87 BRASHEAR, 15 GORDON, 21 LAICH
Defense Pair 1: 26 MORRISONN, 52 GREEN
Defense Pair 2: 23 JURCINA, 55 SCHULTZ
Defense Pair 3: 4 ERSKINE, 44 EMINGER
Goalie: 37 KOLZIG
Back-up Goalie: 35 CASSIVI

Montreal
Forward Line 1: 21 HIGGINS, 14 PLEKANEC, 27 KOVALEV
Forward Line 2: 46 A. KOSTITSYN, 11 KOIVU, 73 RYDER
Forward Line 3: 74 S. KOSTITSYN, 40 LAPIERRE, 84 LATENDRESSE
Forward Line 4: 6 KOSTOPOULOS, 28 CHIPCHURA, 25 DANDENAULT
Defense Pair 1: 44 HAMRLIK, 8 KOMISAREK
Defense Pair 2: 79 MARKOV, 51 BOUILLON
Defense Pair 3: 3 O’BYRNE, 26 GORGES
Goalie: 39 HUET
Back-up Goalie: 31 PRICE

Injuries:
Washington – 14 FEHR (hip) IR, 17 CLARK (groin) IR, 1 JOHNSON (knee) IR, 28 SEMIN (tailbone) DTD, 3 POTI (upper body) DTD, 2 POTHIER (upper body) DTD
Montreal – 79 MARKOV (leg) DTD, 3 O’BYRNE (thumb fracture) IR, 20 SMOLINSKI (knee) IR, 22 BEGIN (shoulder) IR

Caps Milestones:
Matt Pettinger needs 3 Points to reach 100 for his career
Alexander Semin needs 5 Shots on Goal to reach 400 for his career
Michal Nylander needs 1 Goal to reach 200 for his career
Donald Brashear needs 3 Points to reach 200 for his career

Preview:
The Capitals limp out of Boston with another injury. Brian Pothier is questionable for tomorrow’s game with the dreaded upper body injury. Maybe Steve Eminger will get a chance to play. The Caps could not put anything past the Bruins and Boston effectively stopped Alex Ovechkin with a blaket defense on the Caps forward. The Canadians don’t have the same type of personnel as Boston, so look for Alex to get a little more running room in this game and he loves to play in Montreal. His good friend Andrei Markov will try and stop him but hopefully this time around the bounces will go the Caps way. If you remember the Caps completely dominated the first game everywhere but on the scoreboard. I think Ovechkin with a hat trick in this one.

Joe’s prediction: Caps 5 MON 2

Game #41 Recap - Capitals 0 Bruins 2

The Capitals dropped a goose egg in Boston as they closed out the first half of the regular season. The Bruins' goalie Tim Thomas got his first shutout of the year with a little help from his good buddy the goal post. The Caps rang the iron 4 times, including 2 by Alex Ovechkin, but were unable to put on in the net. The #1 Cap killer over the last two seasons, Marc Savard scored a goal in the second period and Zdeno Chara scored on a 3-on-5 advantage for B's. The Caps were already without defenseman Tom Poti and they may have lost Brian Pothier as he left in the second period with an upper body injury. The Caps have now lost 5 straight games to Boston. The team has little time to regroup as the head into Montreal for a game on Saturday.

Of Note:

• 16 of the Capitals 18 skaters recorded a shot on goal in the game. Brooks Laich and Milan Jurcina were the only two without a shot. The Caps out shot Boston 31-30.
• Former Capital Glen Metrpolit recorded an assist on both of Boston's goals.
• The Caps remained ahead of Tampa in the Southeast Division as the Lightning were downed by Montreal 6-3.
• Olie Kolzig stopped 28 of 30 shots on the night and reduced his GAA to 2.99 on the season.

Official Recap
Game Summary
Super Stats

Game #41 Washington Capitals at Boston Bruins

Where: TD Banknorth Garden, Boston, MA

When: January 3, 2008, 7:00 PM

History:
Caps Record on this Date: 4-9-2-0
Caps Game 41 Record: 9-13-9-1
All-Time vs. BOS: 33-59-21-6
Last Season vs. BOS: 0-0-4
Last Meeting: 3/15/07, WAS 3 BOS 4 (OT-SO)

This Year:
WAS Record: 16-19-5
Standings Points: 37
Division Rank: 4^th
Conference Rank: 14^th
Last Game: 1/1/2008, WAS 6 OTT 3
Streak: Won 2

BOS Record: 19-16-4
Standings Points: 42
Division Rank: 3^rd
Conference Rank: Tied 7^th
Last Game: 12/31/2007, BOS 5 ATL 2
Streak: Won 1

Probable Line-Ups:
Washington
Forward Line 1: 8 OVECHKIN, 19 BACKSTROM, 25 KOZLOV
Forward Line 2: 43 FLEISCHMANN, 92 NYLANDER, 28 SEMIN
Forward Line 3: 53 LAING, 39 STECKEL, 10 BRADLEY
Forward Line 4: 87 BRASHEAR, 15 GORDON, 21 LAICH
Defense Pair 1: 26 MORRISONN, 2 POTHIER
Defense Pair 2: 52 GREEN, 23 JURCINA
Defense Pair 3: 3 POTI, 55 SCHULTZ
Goalie: 37 KOLZIG
Back-up Goalie: 35 CASSIVI

Boston
Forward Line 1: 11 AXELSSON, 91 SAVARD, 81 KESSEL
Forward Line 2: 72 SCHAEFER, 13 METROPOLIT, 12 KOBASEW
Forward Line 3: 17 LUCIC, 56 NOKELAINEN, 10 BOCHENSKI
Forward Line 4: 16 STURM, 46 KREJCI, 53 REICH
Defense Pair 1: 6 WIDEMAN, 33 CHARA
Defense Pair 2: 21 FERENCE, 45 STUART
Defense Pair 3: 49 LASHOFF, 48 HUNWICK
Goalie: 29 AULD
Back-up Goalie: 30 THOMAS

Injuries:
Washington – 14 FEHR (hip) IR, 17 CLARK (groin) IR, 1 JOHNSON (knee) IR, 28 SEMIN (tailbone) DTD, 3 POTI (upper body) DTD
Boston – 44 WARD (fractured foot) IR, 27 MURRAY (hip) IR, 41 ALBERTS (concussion) IR, 35 FERNANDEZ (knee) IR, 37 BERGERON (concussion, broken nose) IR, 36 ZHAMNOV (ankle) IR

Caps Milestones:
Matt Pettinger needs 3 Points to reach 100 for his career
Alexander Semin needs 5 Shots on Goal to reach 400 for his career
Michal Nylander needs 1 Goal to reach 200 for his career
Donald Brashear needs 3 Points to reach 200 for his career

Preview:
At the halfway point of this season the Capitals will play Boston for the first time. Last season the Bruins had the Caps number as they beat the Capitals in all four meetings, three times in the shootout and once in overtime. In the last eight games the Caps are 1-2-5 against the Bruins. Boston is having a tough stretch right now winning three of their last ten. The Caps are coming off of two impressive wins over the Eastern Conference leading Ottawa. The Caps cannot afford at let down as they are still 14^th in the Conference and need to keep accumulating standings points if they want to get back into the playoff picture. Alex Ovechkin has a 7-game point string going with 7 goals and 5 assists in those games. Look for the Caps to push the tempo up on the Bruins who have suffered a lot of injuries. The Caps have been putting the puck in the net lately and have been getting goals from all 4 lines. The Caps break the trend and soundly beat Boston.

Joe’s prediction: Caps 4 BOS 1

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Game #40 Recap - Capitals 6 Senators 3

The Capitals fought off a not so good start and came from 2-goals down to dominate and soundly defeat the Ottawa Senators 6-3. Ottawa started the game scoring twice in the first 5-minutes of the game. The Caps came back with 5 consecutive goals. They even shook a large monkey off their back as Mike Green scored on a 5-on-3 advantage 52-seconds into the second period. The Senators came back with a goal in the third period but gave up an empty net goal to Boyd Gordon to seal the Washington victory. Together with Saturday's win, the Caps swept the home-and-home series with Ottawa and outscored the first place Senators 14-9 in the two games. They travel to Boston on Thursday for their first meeting of the year with the Bruins.

Of Note:

• 5 Capital players had multiple point games; Green (2 goals, 1 assist, 3 points), Gordon (1,1,2), Laich (1,1,2), Michal Nylander (1,1,2), Alex Ovechkin (0,2,2).
• Laich had the game winner and went 8-1 in the face-off circle.
• The Caps won the face-off battle 43-30 overall but were out shot by the Senators 34-26.
• Alexander Semin and Tom Poti both played for a brief time before leaving with injuries.
• Shaone Morrisonn played a team high 25:47 and had 4 blocked shots and a +3 rating.
• Victor Kozlov broke a 23-game goalless drought with the Caps first tally at 5:15 of the first period.
• Ovechkin extended his scoring streak to 7-games. He has 7 goals and 5 assists for 12 points in those games.
• The Capitals are 5-2-3 in their last 10 games.
  

Official Recap
Game Summary
Super Stats