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Game Day DC- Panthers come to town and thoughts about Emery-Holtby fight |
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Match-up – Florida Panthers (3-8-2) @ Washington Capitals (6-7-0)
Road/Home records – 1-4-0 -------------- 3-3-0
TV – CSN-DC
Puck drop - 7:00 PM ET
Season series - 0-0
Last 10: 2-6-2 (FL) and 5-5-0 (WSH)
Projected starting goalies – Jacob Markstrom (FL) v. Michal Neuvirth (WSH)-Both Unconfirmed
Goals for/against per game:
Florida- 1.92 (27th) and 3.38 (28th)
Washington- 3.0 (11th) and 2.92 (22nd)
Power play/Penalty Kill:
Florida-9.3% (29th) and 78% (25th)
Washington- 25% (3rd) and 91.7% (2nd)
The familiar Florida Panthers are coming to the Verizon Center tonight. However, this year the scenery is a little different as this is the first time that the Caps and Panthers will meet outside of the Southeastern conference. For the Capitals, this should be a welcomed sight as last year saw the Caps dominate the series. In the past 4 meetings last year, the Caps outscored the Panthers 22-12 and won all 4 games. While no game in the NHL is a given any night, the Caps should have a good chance to reach .500 tonight against the struggling Panthers. The Caps currently sit in third place in the Metropolitan division but could move into the second position with a win. Tonight is a must win game because in the Metropolitan division there is a 3 point spread between the 2nd and 7th ranked teams. In addition, teams like New Jersey and New York Rangers are playing much better despite extremely rough starts, so getting early points will be important for the Caps. The Caps are looking to win consecutive games for the second time since their 3 game winning streak from October 19th-24th.
The Capitals are coming into tonight after putting an absolute manhandle on the Flyers last night, 7-0. Despite the Flyers being one of the worst teams in the league through the first few weeks, it was positive to see an Ovechkin-less Washington team be able to dominate. Looking at the game, the Caps had an unrelenting offense during the second period which marked them scoring 5 times to blow the game out of the water. In addition, Joel Ward got his first career hat-trick which hopefully will help him continue to find the net. Overall, the Capitals were able to get offense in a well rounded effort.
There were also some fisticuffs last night with one notable fight between Emery and Holtby-which Holtby adamantly did not consent to. Personally, the last time a goalie went to town on his opponent without consent there were potential criminal assault charges (Jonathon Roy). What Emery did last night should be suspended for the maximum amount as Holtby clearly did not want to engage in a fight. Non-consensual fighting that risked Washington losing their starting goalie to an at best, “washed up” want to be “starter” is a joke. There is definitely a place for fighting in the NHL, however, to force an individual to fight and then relentlessly assault him is not. What Emery did is completely classless, disrespects the game, and should be viewed as serious as the “dirty” hits that NHL Player Safety looks at. If the unspoken hockey code of accepting fights is no longer going to be adhered to, what is stopping John Scott from getting on the ice and clocking Crosby. No real hockey fan (especially those who played the game) should approve of Emery’s actions and honestly, they were completely disgraceful and those antics belong to his defacto “MMA” career. In real life, fighting someone who doesn’t want to is a criminal charge in any situation, country, etc.
Tonight will see Ovechkin maybe being back in the lineup. While he has been nursing an upper-body injury, Coach Oates indicated that he could potentially play this evening. It will probably be a game-time decision whether or not he will play. Given they are playing the Panthers, I would imagine that Coach Oates will give him another day or two so that he can return healthier. There is no need to rush him back into play and risk losing him for longer.
The Panthers are coming into tonight after losing 4-0 to St. Louis yesterday. More than likely, they will be a little tired as they are traveling much further than the Capitals were to get back to DC. There is the possibility that Scott Clemmenson will start in goal for the Panthers, as Markstrom was a little shaky last night letting in 4 goals on 23 shots. This is solely because “starting” goalie Tim Thomas has been struggling with a lower-body injury and is listed on the IR for an unknown amount of time. Whoever is in net for the Panthers will need to be ready, as the Florida offense is one of the worst in the leagues and gives them little wiggle room. Given this, the Capitals will be looking to take advantage of their goaltending and offensive edge. I would imagine because both teams are coming into the second game from back-to-backs, that both backups will play (Neuvy and Clemmers).
Coming into tonight, the Caps have what appears to be an advantage with special teams. However, Florida is one of the more disciplined teams in the NHL and rank in the top ten for least times being shorthanded. Despite this, if Ovechkin isn’t in the lineup, Florida may catch a break. If Ovechkin is not in the lineup, it will be interesting to see how effective the powerplay is. Florida has one of the worst PK’s in the league, so even without Ovechkin the Caps still should have a strong advantage. As long as the Caps come out resembling the team that took on the Flyers, they should be able to win consecutive games.
Below is the potential Caps lineup without Ovechkin:
Fehr-Backstrom-Erat
Brouwer- Laich-MoJo
Chimera-Grabo-Ward
Volpatti-Latta-Wilson
Alzner-Carlson
Green-Schmidt
Urbom-Olesky
Neuvirth (Holtby)
Thanks for reading and comments are always appreciated. Be sure to tune into the game tonight and watch the Caps. Feel free to follow me on Twitter @BCASE30. Go Caps!
Carolina Hurricanes Blogger • 
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