About the Capitals - 01-01-11
A preview of the Capitals.
When and where: 1 p.m. 8 p.m. Consol Energy Center Heinz Field.
TV: NBC, CBC, RDS.
Record: 22-12-5, 49 points.
Leading Scorer: Alex Ovechkin (right), 42 points (14 goals, 28 assists).
Last Game: 3-0 home win against the Canadiens, Tuesday. Semyon Varlamov made 25 saves for the Capitals.
Last Game against the Penguins: 3-2 shootout home loss, Dec. 23. Kris Letang and Pascal Dupuis had shootout goals for the Penguins.
Capitals Player We Would Bet Money On Scoring: Mike Knuble. He has scored in nine consecutive regular season games against the Penguins.
Ex-Penguins on the Capitals: Matt Bradley, LW.
Ex-Capitals on the Penguins: Matt Cooke, LW; Brent Johnson, G.
Useless Capitals Trivia Vaguely Related to the Penguins: Dino Ciccarelli holds the Capitals' franchise record for goals in a postseason game. He scored four in Game 5 of the 1992 Patrick Division semifinal against the Penguins. The Capitals won, 7-2.
Best Capitals Video We Could Find: Ronnie to Artie:
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Probable goaltenders: Marc-Andre Fleury (17-8-2, 2.28 GAA, .918 SV%) for the Penguins and Semyon Varlamov (6-4-1, 2.28 GAA, .919 SV%) for the Capitals.
Injuries: For the Penguins, forward Eric Godard (nose) is out. Forwards Mike Comrie (hip), Jordan Staal (hand) and defenseman Alex Grant (wrist) are on injured reserve. For the Capitals, defenseman Tom Poti (head) is day to day. Forwards Matt Bradley (finger) and Boyd Gordon (foot) are on injured reserve.
Potential lines and defensive pairings: The Penguins' primary lines and defensive pairings against the Islanders Wednesday were:
Chris Kunitz - Sidney Crosby - Pascal Dupuis
Matt Cooke - Maxime Talbot - Evgeni Malkin
Chris Conner - Mark Letestu - Tyler Kennedy
Mike Rupp - Craig Adams - Arron Asham
Brooks Orpik - Kris Letang
Paul Martin - Zbynek Michalek
Alex Goligoski - Deryk Engelland
The Capitals' primary lines and defensive pairings during Wednesday's practice were:
Alex Ovechkin - Nicklas Backstrom - Mike Knuble
Brooks Laich - Mathieu Perreault - Alexander Semin
Jason Chimera - Marcus Johansson - Eric Fehr
Matt Hendricks - David Steckel - Jay Beagle/Eric Fehr
Scott Hannan - Mike Green
Karl Alzner - John Carlson
Jeff Schultz - John Erskine
Notes:
-Jordan Staal will be a game-time decision.
-Everyone seems to be in favor of playing at night.
-Playing outdoors isn't anything new for these players.
-Fleury and Talbot don't want to be spectators again like they were in 2008.
-Letestu has appeared in 49 career games.
-Talbot has 49 career goals, 49 career assists and 98 career points.
-Martin has 149 career assists.
-The Washington Capitals play defense?
-"I can't see how I can't give him the start." - Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau on Varlamov.
-"The ice is good. Compared to, say, ours at home, it's not quite as fast. It's outdoor, but it held up nice, very firm. You can skate well -- you just have to do everything firm on it. The puck didn't seem to slide as well as it normally does, but we had no problems skating. Passing the puck, it just has to be a little bit firmer, but it is really good." - Capitals assistant coach Dean Evason.
-Green has appeared in 349 career games.
-Knuble has 498 career points.
-Our live blog begins at... well... we'll be live blogging pretty much the duration of the day. Just tune in.