Caps Vs. Panthers


After handling the Panthers quite easily last night in Sunrise, Florida, the Caps and Cats are back at it again this evening in DC. Slated for a 7pm puck-drop at the Verizon Center, the Caps are going to be looking to build on their 4 point win from last night.

4 points of course because it was a win over a divisional rival. Everytime the Caps beat a division opponent they do themselve 2 favors, 2 points for them and 2 points taken away from their rivals. Keeping the Cats from gaining points against the Capitals is the best way that Washington can ensure themselves of strong grip on the Southeast Division.

Tonight is another 4 point game, but the circumstances are different as the Panthers are most certainly going to be desperate for redemption tonight in DC.

Last night's game was an excellent demostration of what this Capitals team can do when they put their minds to it. Strong defense and excellent forechecking gave the Caps control over the game early on. Their discipline was remarkable, despite ShaMo's 5 minute major at the end of the game.

The special teams were strng and so was the goaltending , but the win did not come without it's concessions as both Mike Green and Jeff Schultz left last night's game with injuries. Both are slated to be game-time decisions for tonight's tilt with the Cats, but it's likely a safe bet that one, if not both, will miss tonight's game.

Considering there appears to be no ramifications for Morrisonn's boarding call(ie. no suspension), it appears that Caps won't have to call anyone up. Green and Schultz can sit while Erskine returns to the lineup and Eric Fehr, who has been in and out of the lineup recovering from a back injury, will likely get the nod over Michael Nylander(just cuz...you know, hurt players are better than healthy ones...?).

Although it is uncertain who will get the start tonight, one thing is certain, Jose Theodore likes playing the Panthers. In his last few tilts against Florida, Theo has performed admirable, allowing but 1 goal in his last 2 games vs. the Cats. That alone might make it a tough choice when it comes to who will get the nod in nets tonight at the VC. The safe bet is Varly, but with Theo having owned the Panthers last night, Boudreau may be wise to go with the hot hand.

Ovechkin is still healing, but will not be available for tonight's game.

The Panthers may see some injury relief tonight as it is expected that Radek Dvorak is ready to return to the lineup. This will give the Cats a little more offensive punch and if the Caps are without Green and Schultz, the entire team will need to pitch in to get the win again tonight.

Washington's win last night also snapped their streak of losses without Alex Ovechkin in the lineup. It took awhile for the team to overcome the loss of OV's on-ice presence, but last night's performance was a testament to the fact that this team is strong enough to overcome the loss of their best player and that they are deep enough to keep on winning.

The true test will come tonight as both clubs will be battling each other on pure emotion rather than raw energy. It's going to be a more aggressive game tonight, so expect there to be afew more penalty calls than last night.

Game Notes

Primetime – Tyler Sloan doesn’t wear eccentric suits with fedoras or multiple gold chains, but he had his teammates calling him Deion Sanders after last night’s 4-1 win against the Florida Panthers. Sloan started the game at forward and opened the scoring for the Caps for the second straight game after recording only one career NHL game prior to this week. A rash of injuries on the blueline in the first period forced Sloan to move to his natural defensive position in the second period. He helped preserve the win by sweeping the puck off the goal line after it had trickled by Jose Theodore. Sloan finished the game with a goal, a +3 rating and three hits in 18:25 of ice time. Defenseman Brian Pothier, who had a goal and two assists last night, said of Sloan, “He's our swingman. He's our Deion Sanders.”

You again? –Washington and Florida each traveled approximately 1,000 miles last night after the Capitals’ 4-1 victory in Sunrise, Fla., to play each other on consecutive days for the first time in series history. It is the Capitals’ only home-and-home series of the year and their second of 13 sets of back-to-back games. The first was last week (Oct. 29-30) and the Capitals earned three out of four points.

Two-timers –Brendan Morrison became the sixth Capital to record a two-goal game in the season’s first 16 games last night.

No way –Jose Theodore, who stopped 28 of 29 shots last night, is 3-0-3 in his last seven games with a 2.62 goals-against average and a .917 save percentage in that time.

Starting something –Washington has scored first in 13 of 16 games this year, including each of the last five. The Capitals have outscored their opponents 19-6 in the first period and have scored at least one goal in the first period of 13 of their 16 games. Only Calgary (21) has scored more first-period goals.

In a Flash –Tomas Fleischmann has points in four straight games, matching his career-long point-scoring streak and giving him five points (3g-2a) in five games since returning from a blood clot in his leg.

Hanging 10? –Washington enters its 17th game of the season seeking its 10th victory. A win tonight would put Washington one point ahead of their pace at the same point last season (10-4-3).

Lineups

Washington Capitals

Fleischmann-Backstrom-Semin
Laich-Morrison-Knuble
Fehr-Perreault-Clark
*Sloan-Steckel-Bradley

- *Sloan will likely move back and forth, so expect Quintin Laing to suit up as well.

Green-Morrisonn
Poti-Jurcina
Pothier-Erskine

*Theodore
Varlamov

- Although it's a safe bet that Varly will get the start tonight, I would not be surprised if Theo gets the nod again. He was stellar last night and seems to own the Panthers, wouldn't be a bad idea if he is up for it.

- Ovechkin is going to be placed on the IR retroactive to when he was injured last Sunday. This doesn't affect his ability to return, but does allow the Caps some maneuverability when it comes to possible injuries to Green and Schultz.

- Speaking of Green and Schultz, I am not certain who is worse shape or if either will make it into tonight's game. If neither can play, expect there to be a call-up from Hershey at some point(Karl Alzner-John Carlson). If either Green or Schultz does play, expect Tyler Sloan to remain at forward, but to be available to drop back if necessary.

- Alex Semin has got to get it going.

- The trio of Laich-BMo-Knuble is firing on all cyinders.

Florida Panthers

Olesz-Weiss-Frolik
Stillman-Reinprech-Horton
Campbell-Kreps-Repik
McArdle-*Taffe-Koistinen

- * Taffe was a call-up, so expect him to sit if Dvorak can go.

McCabe-Ballard
Leopold-Seidenberg
Kulikov-Allen

*Vokoun
Clemmensen

- Caps dominated Vokoun last night, I would expect DeBoer to come back with Clemmensen.





Enjoy the game! Puck drop is @ 7pm.




steven.hindle@hockeybuzz.com
capitalshockeybuzz@live.ca
Go Caps!!!!!

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