Game #55 Preview: San Jose Sharks at Washington Capitals

  

Where: Verizon Center, Washington, DC

When:  February 8, 2011, 7:00 PM

History:           

Caps Record on this Date: 6-5-3-0

Caps Game 55 Record: 15-13-4-2

All-Time vs. SAN: 9-16-1-1

All-Time at home vs. SAN: 6-7-0-1

Last Season vs. SAN: 1-1-0

Last Meeting: 12/30/09, WAS 2 SAN 5

Season Series: 0-0-0

This Year:

WAS Record: 29-15-10

Standings Points: 68

Division Rank: 2nd

Conference Rank: 5th

Last Game: 2/6/11, WAS 3 PIT 0

Streak: Win 2

SAN Record: 28-19-6

Standings Points: 62

Division Rank: 2nd

Conference Rank: 5th    

Last Game: 2/5/11, SAN 2 BOS 0

Streak: Won 3

Probable Line-Ups:     

Washington

Forward Line 1: 8 OVECHKIN, 19 BACKSTROM, 25 CHIMERA

Forward Line 2: 21 LAICH, 85 PERRAULT, 83 BEAGLE

Forward Line 3: 26 HENDRICKS, 90 JOHANSSON, 22 KNUBLE

Forward Line 4: 39 STECKEL, 15 GORDON, 10 BRADLEY

Defense Pair 1: 52 GREEN, 55 SCHULTZ

Defense Pair 2: 27 ALZNER, 74 CARLSON

Defense Pair 3: 23 HANNAN, 4 ERSKINE

Goalie: 1 VARLAMOV

Back-up Goalie: 30 NEUVIRTH

San Jose

Forward Line 1: 12 MARLEAU, 19 THORNTON, 15 HEATLEY

Forward Line 2: 29 CLOWE, 8 PAVELSKI, 16 SETOGUCHI

Forward Line 3: 55 EAGER, 39 COUTURE, 20 WELLWOOD

Forward Line 4: 10 MAYERS, 21 NICHOL, 78 FERRIERO

Defense Pair 1: 3 MURRAY, 22 BOYLE

Defense Pair 2: 44 VLASIC, 40 HUSKINS

Defense Pair 3: 7 WALLIN, 60 DEMERS

Goalie: 31 NIEMI

Back-up Goalie: 34 HUTTON

Injuries:

Washington – 3 POTI (upper body) IR, 28 SEMIN (hip) DTD, 16 FEHR (upper body) DTD, 89 SLOAN (lower body) DTD

SAN – 17 MITCHELL (lower body) IR

Caps Milestones:

Matt Bradley’s next game will be his 400^th as a Capital.

Jason Chimera needs 4 goals to reach 100 in his career.

Brooks Laich needs 5 goals to reach 100 in his career.

Alex Ovechkin needs 5 assists to reach 300 in his career.

Preview:

After two big victories the Capitals cannot rest on their laurels as the San Jose Sharks come to the Phone Booth for an inter-conference battle. Both teams are sitting in fifth place in their respective conferences and are looking to make a move up the standings. Washington has been relying on good defense, goal tending and penalty killing to win. They have allowed just 26 goals against in the last 16 games and are looking to continue that trend. The Sharks bring a combination of size, skill and talent to this match up but find themselves battling for a playoff spot with their stars not performing as expected. It sounds familiar to Washington’s situation and should make this a great game to watch. Look for an intense game with lots of pace. The key will be the play of both teams #1 line. I expect the Ovechkin line to breakout early in this one and the Caps defense to hold them in for a close victory.

Joe’s prediction: Caps 3 SAN 2

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Game #54 Recap: Caps 3 Pittsburgh 0

The Capitals continued their momentum from their Friday night victory in Tampa to Sunday when they shutout the Penguins by a 3-0 score. The win was predicated on good defense and some timely scoring. The Capitals took the lead in the second period when Brooks Laich stuffed home the puck under Marc-Andre Fleury from tight in front. For Laich it was his second goal in two games and his 11th on the year. From there the Capitals played deep in the Penguins end and did not allow their speedy forwards to get up the ice unimpeded. At the end of the first period the Caps lost their All-Star defeseman Mike Green when he took a slap shot to the side of the head. He was down on ice bleeding for some time and would not return to the game. Early in the second period it appeared that Washington had taken a two goal lead when Mike Knuble put the puck in the net. The referees determined that Matt Hendricks had committed goalie interference after he was checked from behind by a Pens defender. Not to worry as the Caps killed off the penalty and extended the lead with a Marcus Johansson shorthanded goal. Johansson made a sweet backhand shot as David Steckel went to the net creating a distraction for Fleury who didn't pick up the puck until it was too late. From there the Caps played solid defense allowing the Penguins only 7 shots on goal in the third period. Steckel was called on to fight AHL call up Tim Wallace in some apparent retribution for his Penguin perceived dirty hit to Sidney Crosby in the Winter Classic. Steckel held his own and everything seemed to be done when Matt Cooke of the Penguins deliberately kneed Alex Ovechkin. Ovechkin did return to the game but not before Cooke declined Matt Bradley's invitation to settle matters with some fists. Of course this is Cooke's M.O. He acts irresponsible and will not account for it no matter the situation. So Caps, take a note and remember that play for the next game. As for this one, the scoring was finished off when Hendricks fed Knuble for an empty net goal. The now get ready to face the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday night.

Of Note:

• Michal Neuvirth was in net for the first time in 7 games and stopped all 22 shots he faced for his second shutout of the season.
• The Capitals out shot the Pens 24 to 22 and out blocked the Pens 18 to 15. 
• The penalty kill continued its good play stopping both Penguin power plays but the Caps power play went 0 for 4.
• Marcus Johansson's goal was the first shorty on his career.
• John Erskine, Jeff Schultz, Mattieu Perrault, and Matt Hendricks each had 1 assist.
• The game-winner by Brooks Laich was the 15th of his career.
• Hendricks and Nicklas Backstrom led the Caps with 3 blocked shots each.
• Backstrom led the Capitals in the face-off dot winning 14 of 17 draws. The team dominated winning 32 and losing 17.

Official Recap
Game Summary
Event Summary

Game #54 Preview: Pittsburgh Penguins at Washington Capitals

Where: Verizon Center, Washington, DC

When:  February 2, 2011, 12:30 PM

History:           

Caps Record on this Date: 4-3-2-1

Caps Game 54 Record: 20-11-2-1

All-Time vs. PIT: 54-67-17-2

All-Time at home vs. PIT: 33-28-9-0

Last Season vs. PIT: 4-2-0

Last Meeting: 1/1/11, WAS 3 PIT 1

Season Series: 1-0-1

This Year:

WAS Record: 28-15-10

Standings Points: 66

Division Rank: 2nd

Conference Rank: 5th

Last Game: 2/4/11, WAS 5 TAM 2

Streak: Win 1

PIT Record: 34-15-4

Standings Points: 72

Division Rank: 2nd

Conference Rank: 4th    

Last Game: 2/4/11, PIT 3 BUF 2

Streak: Won 5

Probable Line-Ups:     

Washington

Forward Line 1: 8 OVECHKIN, 19 BACKSTROM, 25 CHIMERA

Forward Line 2: 21 LAICH, 85 PERRAULT, 83 BEAGLE

Forward Line 3: 26 HENDRICKS, 90 JOHANSSON, 22 KNUBLE

Forward Line 4: 39 STECKEL, 15 GORDON, 10 BRADLEY

Defense Pair 1: 52 GREEN, 55 SCHULTZ

Defense Pair 2: 27 ALZNER, 74 CARLSON

Defense Pair 3: 23 HANNAN, 4 ERSKINE

Goalie: 1 VARLAMOV

Back-up Goalie: 30 NEUVIRTH

Pittsburgh

Forward Line 1: 14 KUNITZ, 15 JEFFERY, 9 DUPUIS

Forward Line 2: 24 COOKE, 11 STAAL, 48 KENNEDY

Forward Line 3: 18 CONNER, 25 TALBOT, 17 RUPP

Forward Line 4: 26 TANGRADI, 27 ADAMS, 28 GODARD

Defense Pair 1: 7 MARTIN, 4 MICHALEK

Defense Pair 2: 3 GOLIGOSKI, 6 LOVEJOY

Defense Pair 3: 44 ORPIK, 58 LETANG

Goalie: 29 FLEURY

Back-up Goalie: 1 JOHNSON

Injuries:

Washington – 3 POTI (upper body) IR, 28 SEMIN (hip) DTD, 16 FEHR (upper body) DTD, 89 SLOAN (lower body) DTD

PIT – 87 CROSBY (concussion) IR, 71 MALKIN (knee) IR, 10 LETESTU (knee) IR, 45 ASHAM (upper body) DTD

Caps Milestones:

Jason Chimera needs 4 goals to reach 100 in his career.

Brooks Laich needs 6 goals to reach 100 in his career.

Alex Ovechkin needs 5 assists to reach 300 in his career.

Preview:

It’s been a month since the Winter Classic and these two teams are back at it again on Super Bowl Sunday. The Pens will be without Sidney Crosby (concussion) and Evgeny Malkin who suffered a knee injury on Friday night. There has been a lot of speculation on whether David Steckel’s contact with Crosby in the Classic was incidental or not but the Pens believe it was so the guys better be prepared for everything at the beginning of this one. The Pens are coming in on a 5-game winning streak and the Caps are hoping to see another performance from Alex Ovechkin and Niclas Backstrom where each of them put 4 points on the SE division leaders. Expect an extremely physical game, especially in the first period and don’t rule out DJ king getting a jersey just for good measure. Against Tampa the Caps played a disciplined, controlled, full 60-minute effort. The team needs to put together more of these types of games and they will be a contender come playoff time. Be prepared for another exciting fast paced game between the two rivals and I think the Caps will build on Friday’s momentum to the victory.

Joe’s prediction: Caps 4 PIT 1

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Game #53 Recap: Caps 5 Tampa Bay 2

The Washington Capitals had a game plan and they stuck to it. For the first time in a couple of years the Caps played a SE Division game where they were not leading the Division. The Tampa Bay Lightning held a 5-point advantage in the standings and were looking to extend a 6-game winning streak. The Caps would have none of that. They attacked the Tampa trap with an unorthodox method of dumping the puck at long range on the goalie to negate icing or held the puck between defensemen to force the trap to make the first move and counter the play. The Caps were determined and patient even after Semyon Varlamov allowed a soft goal on Tampa's first shot. The Caps swarmed the net and got under Tampa goalie Dwayne Roloson's skin. The work paid off as the Caps tied the game at 1-1 halfway through the first when Nicklas Backstrom put a loose puck in the net from the door step. Brooks Laich gave the Caps the lead early in the second after some hard work from Jay Beagle and Mathieu Perrault. Alex Ovechkin extended the lead on the power play with a wicked wrist shot as Mike Knuble battled a defenseman in front of the net. The Bolts drew within one when they scored on deflected power play shot with less than a minute remaining in the second. The Caps didn't waver and Backstrom restored the two goal advantage when he put a rebound into the net with 8-minutes remaining in the game. Jason Chimera added and empty net goal to seal the deal. For the first time in a long time the Caps played a full 60-minute game and came away just three points out first in the Division.

Of Note:

• 5 goals is the most Washington has scored in their last 17 games.
• Alex Ovechkin: 1 goal, 3 assists, 4 points, +3, 10 shots on goal and 4 hits. Now that sounds like and Ovechkin line.
• Nicklas Backstrom: 2 goals, 2 assists, 4 points, +3, 5 shots on goal, 1 hit and 3 blocked shots. See above.
• The power play went 1 for 4 and the penalty killers went 3 for 4.
• Semyom Varlamov stopped 23 of 25 shots fir the victory.
• Kudos to Matt Hendricks and Matt Bradley who brought the intensity with a first period fight for each.
• Jason Chimera chipped in 1 goal and 1 assist and Mike Green and John Carlson each had an assist from the blue line.

Official Recap
Game Summary
Event Summary

Game #53 Preview: Washington Capitals at Tampa Bay Lightning

Where: St. Pete Times Forum, Tampa, FL

When:  February 4, 2011, 7:30 PM

History:           

Caps Record on this Date: 4-9-2-0

Caps Game 53 Record: 12-17-5-0

All-Time vs. TAM: 54-67-17-2

All-Time at TAM: 33-28-9-0

Last Season vs. TAM: 4-2-0

Last Meeting: 1/12/11, WAS 0 TAM 3

Season Series: 2-1-1

This Year:

WAS Record: 27-15-10

Standings Points: 64

Division Rank: 2nd

Conference Rank: 5th

Last Game: 2/1/11, WAS 2 MON 3 (OT-SO)

Streak: Loss 3

TAM Record: 32-15-5

Standings Points: 69

Division Rank: 1st

Conference Rank: 2nd    

Last Game: 2/1/11, TAM 4 PHI 0

Streak: Won 6

Probable Line-Ups:     

Washington

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

Forward Line 2: 21 LAICH, 85 PERRAULT, 25 CHIMERA

Forward Line 3: 26 HENDRICKS, 90 JOHANSSON, 83 BEAGLE

Forward Line 4: 39 STECKEL, 15 GORDON, 10 BRADLEY

Defense Pair 1: 52 GREEN, 55 SCHULTZ

Defense Pair 2: 27 ALZNER, 74 CARLSON

Defense Pair 3: 23 HANNAN, 4 ERSKINE

Goalie: 1 VARLAMOV

Back-up Goalie: 30 NEUVIRTH

Tampa Bay

Forward Line 1: 26 ST. LOUIS, 91 STAMKOS, 9 DOWNIE

Forward Line 2: 12 GAGNE, 4 LECAVALIER, 16 PURCELL

Forward Line 3: 10 BERGENHEIM, 19 MOORE, 21 RITOLA

Forward Line 4: 18 HALL, 44 THOMPSON, 42 TYRELL

Defense Pair 1: 39 LUNDIN, 5 OHLUND

Defense Pair 2: 7 CLARK, 77 HEDMAN

Defense Pair 3: 8 JONES, 13 KUBINA

Goalie: 35 ROLOSON

Back-up Goalie: 33 ELLIS

Injuries:

Washington – 3 POTI (upper body) IR, 28 SEMIN (hip) DTD, 16 FEHR (upper body) DTD, 30 NEUVIRTH (lower body) DTD

TAM – 6 MALONE (body) DTD

Caps Milestones:

Jason Chimera needs 5 goals to reach 100 in his career.

Brooks Laich needs 7 goals to reach 100 in his career.

Alex Ovechkin needs 8 assists to reach 300 in his career.

Preview:

The Capitals are heading into must win territory. With 30 games left on the schedule the Caps are 5 points back of their opponents in tonight’s matchup. If they want to contend for the SE Division title they need to start closing that gap. Unfortunately, the team has been consistently inconsistent with another overtime, shootout loss on Tuesday. Washington gave up a two goal lead and will need a better effort to be in the game against the Lightning. Tampa put a 4-0 beating on the Eastern Conference leading Philadelphia Flyers. For the Capitals to win they will need a focused 60-minute effort. Expect this game to be another high paced game with lots of physical play but very conservative to start. The Capitals scored on the power play last game and this will be the key for the rest of the season. If they can start scoring on the power play regularly they will be much more dangerous. The Lightning have shutout the Capitals in there last two meetings so look for the Caps to really crash the crease to get a goal. I think Washington comes out on top in this one with a strike on the power play but it should be close.

Joe’s prediction: Caps 3 TAM 1

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Game #52 Recap: Caps 2 Montreal 3 (OT-SO)

The Capitals started the game the way we all know they can play. They pushed back the Montreal with aggressive play and took a 2-0 lead after the first period. They scored on the power play for the first time in 6 games. Everything was going well until the Caps took 4 consecutive penalties that wiped all the good momentum out of the game for the Capitals. Two mistakes in the the second period led to odd man rushed that ended up in the back of the Capitals net. The third period was more of the same as the Caps were called for more penalties and mustered on sustained offense. In the overtime Washington managed again could not gain any traction in the offensive zone and the game went to the shootout. Montreal scored the only goal in the tiebreaker contest as Nicklas Backstrom, Matt Hendricks and Alex Ovechkin all failed to score. The Capitals next head to Tampa to take on the Southeast division leading Lightning for a Friday match up.

Of Note:

• Matt Bradley played in his 600th career NHL game. 
• Mathieu Perrault got the Caps on the board first with an unassisted goal at 2:29 of the first period. He also picked up the first power play assist of his career when he chipped the puck to Mike Green who delivered an unbelievable pass to Mike Knuble for a slam dunk goal.
• Semyon Varlamov play exceptional in goal for the Capitals. He stopped 36 of 38 shots in the game and 11 for 11 with Montreal on the power play.
• The Capitals were 1 for 3 on the power play while the penalty killers were a perfect 6 for 6.

Official Recap
Game Summary
Event Summary
Shootout Summary

Game #52 Preview: Montreal Canadians at Washington Capitals

Where: Verizon Center, Washington, DC

When:  February 1, 2011, 7:30 PM

History:           

Caps Record on this Date: 11-6-1-0

Caps Game 52 Record: 15-9-10-0

All-Time vs. MON: 54-67-17-2

All-Time at home vs. MON: 33-28-9-0

Last Season vs. MON: 2-1-1

Last Meeting: 12/28/10, WAS 3 MON 0

Season Series: 1-0-0

This Year:

WAS Record: 27-15-9

Standings Points: 63

Division Rank: 2nd

Conference Rank: 5th

Last Game: 1/26/11, WAS 0 ATL 1

Streak: Loss 2

MON Record: 27-18-5

Standings Points: 59

Division Rank: 2nd

Conference Rank: 7th    

Last Game: 1/25/11, MON 2 PHI 5

Streak: Loss 2

Probable Line-Ups:     

Washington

Forward Line 1: 8 OVECHKIN, 19 BACKSTROM, 25 CHIMERA

Forward Line 2: 21 LAICH, 85 PERRAULT, 22 KNUBLE  

Forward Line 3: 26 HENDRICKS, 90 JOHANSSON, 10 BRADLEY

Forward Line 4: 17 KING, 15 GORDON, 39 STECKEL

Defense Pair 1: 52 GREEN, 55 SCHULTZ

Defense Pair 2: 27 ALZNER, 74 CARLSON

Defense Pair 3: 23 HANNAN, 4 ERSKINE

Goalie: 1 VARLAMOV

Back-up Goalie: 70 HOLTBY

Montreal

Forward Line 1: 57 POULIOT, 14 PLEKANEC, 81 ELLER

Forward Line 2: 67 PACIORETTY, 11 GOMEZ, 21 GIONTA

Forward Line 3: 94 PYATT, 58 DESHARNAIS, 52 DARCHE

Forward Line 4: 32 MOEN, 15 HALPERN, 53 WHITE

Defense Pair 1: 44 HAMRLIK, 20 WISNIEWSKI

Defense Pair 2: 75 GILL, 76 SUBBAN

Defense Pair 3: 6 SPACEK, 68 WEBER

Goalie: 31 PRICE

Back-up Goalie: 35 AULD

Injuries:

Washington – 3 POTI (upper body) IR, 28 SEMIN (hip) DTD, 16 FEHR (upper body) DTD, 30 NEUVIRTH (lower body) DTD

MON – 13 CAMMALLERI (shoulder) IR, 26 GORGES (knee) IR, 79 MARKOV (knee) IR

Caps Milestones:

Matt Bradley will play in NHL career game #600.

Jason Chimera needs 5 goals to reach 100 in his career.

Brooks Laich needs 7 goals to reach 100 in his career.

Alex Ovechkin needs 8 assists to reach 300 in his career.

Preview:

Hopefully, a little break is just what the team needed. The All-Star Game is over and Washington is back to work for the first of the final 31 games of the season. It’s been a frustrating season for the Capitals who have had to claw their way for every point they have in the standings. Tonight brings the Montreal Canadians calling to the Verizon Center for the second of four meetings against the Caps. Washington took the first game 3-0 at the end of December and will look to put together the same type of effort tonight. The Caps took the lead early and shut down the Canadians the rest of the way. The Caps are starting to get healthy as Matt Bradley returned last game and Alexander Semin, who just signed on for another year with Washington, is reportedly ready to return as well. I expect that this game will be another physical battle played along the boards and whoever wants it more will come out the victor.

Joe’s prediction: Caps 3 MON 1

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