Match-up – Minnesota Wild (9-4-3) @ Washington Capitals (8-7-0) Road/Home records – 2-3-1-------------- 5-3-0 TV – FSNO, CSMA Puck drop - 7:00 PM ET Season series - 0-0 Last 10: 6-3-1 (Minn) and 7-3 -0 (WSH) Projected starting goalies – Josh Harding(NYI ) v. Braden Holtby (WSH)-Both Unconfirmed Goals for/against per game: Minnesota:- 2.69(15th) and 2.06 (5th) Washington: 3.13 (8th) and 2.80 (18th)
Power play/Penalty Kill: Minnesota-25% (2nd) and 77.8% (25th) Washington- 27.9% (1st) and 91.5% (1st)
The Capitals will play host this evening at the Verizon Center as the Minnesota Wild come to town. Both teams come into the evening playing some of their best hockey at this point in the season. The Capitals will be looking to defend their 3-game winning streak in their final home game before a 2-game West coast trip against the Coyotes and Avalanche. However, this will not be an easy task as the Wild come into DC as one of the hotter teams from the West, boasting the fact that they have won 6 of their last 7. In addition, like the Capitals, the Wild are looking to defend a 3-game winning streak as well.
Despite early season woes and questionable line combinations, Coach Oates finally has his team firing on all cylinders as they have scored 15 goals in the last 3 games, two of which didn’t have Ovechkin in them. In his return, Ovechkin was true to form and tallied two goals against the Islanders. More interesting from the game against the Islanders was Coach Oates choice to make Eric Fehr a healthy scratch. Given the performance on Tuesday, I would imagine that he will have to wait for his chance to return to the lineup.
The Caps high octane offense will most likely be facing Josh Harding, who has been putting up an astounding 1.09 GAA and .951 save %. These extremely amazing statistics have put him in the lead for goaltending statistics for GAA, save % and shutouts (2). Given that the Caps early season struggles have been 5-5 play, I would imagine that the Wild and Harding will be able to play them tight. However, looking at the Achilles Heel for the Wild, it is obvious that there one downfall early this season has been their PK which is one of the worst in the league. What is great for the Caps about this statistic, is the fact that the Wild are one of the most undisciplined teams and have been shorthanded the 4th most in the league. This should be a huge advantaged for the Caps who have been great with the special teams and lead the league in both PK and PP. This comes to no surprise as Coach Oates was a special team specialist when coaching in NJ. I would imagine that Minnesota’s key to winning would be staying out of the box. The Caps key to winning would be to use their speed and draw penalties. Dumping the puck and forcing the Minnesota D to play them straight up should allow the Caps to do this. They need to get a strong start and not let the Wild jump on them early. Look for tight defensive game if it isn’t played on the special teams. The Caps will most likely be using the same line combinations they did against the Islanders.
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