Washington Capitals (7-7-0) vs. New York Islanders (6-5-3)

 

The Islanders will visit the Capitals at Verizon Center on Tuesday night for a Metropolitan Division matchup.  Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 pm.

 

The Capitals are looking to extend a two game win streak after winning the last two games against the Flyers and the Panthers.  They crushed the Flyers in scoring (7-0) and boxing.  Volpatti sent Steve Downie to the hospital with major concussion symptoms and Oleksy knocked Lecavalier out of hockey for a few weeks with facial injuries and missing teeth. In the Panthers game, Nicklas Backstrom scored a goal in regulation and also the game winning shootout goal.  He has 3 goals in the last two games.
 

Although the 3rd line of Chimera, Ward and Grabovski were finally held off the scoreboard against the Panthers, they still have combined for 9 goals and 11 assists in the last 5 games. Chimera was named "NHL's 3rd star of the week" for the week that ended on Nov 3rd.  This line has achieved this greatness through hard work.  They're showing why the dump and chase has a place in hockey and are very good at winning the battles on the boards.
 

Ovechkin, (upper-body) is a game time decision (by Oates) but has listed himself as probable.  After Mondays practice Ovechkin had this to say:

"It looks like I'm probably going to play [Tuesday] and I'm happy to be back"
 

No word yet but Oates will probably give the nod to Holtby.  He was credited with the shutout against the Flyers but he was given a rest against the Panthers in the 2nd game of the back to back set.
 

The Islanders are trying to extend a two-game win streak after getting wins against the Senators (5-4 Shootout win), and the Bruins (3-1.)  John Tavares had a goal in each game and the Caps will have to give him some extra attention.  He is a goal scorer and is due to start scoring at a higher rate any time now.  He finished only 4 goals behind Ovechkin (league leader) in the league last year and seems to always challenge Ovechkin for the goal lead.
 

The Islanders are expected to give Evgeni Nabokov the start in goal.  For the season, Nabokov has a 2.92 goals against average and a .903 save percentage.
 

Note: If the Caps get a win tonight, they'll leapfrog the Islanders in the Metroplitan Division standings and be in 2nd place with a one point lead on the Islanders.  Then they could look towards catching the first place Penguins who would be three wins ahead of them.

 

Zach's Three Keys to the Game:

 

** Defense: This will be a key to the game until they have multiple good performances. They need to continue to build chemistry and block shots against the Islanders. Do not give John Tavares open space in front of our net! Green needs to get the scoring going.

 

** Keep Killing Penalties: Going back for ten games, the Caps have killed an incredible 35 straight penalties.  They'll need to keep it up against the leagues 7th best powerplay unit in the Islanders.

** Backstrom: In Ovechkin's absence, Backstrom showcased his shot accuracy with three goals in two games.  Backstrom needs to shoot more tonight and perhaps Ovechkin can begin feeding Backstrom some pucks.

 

If you'll be attending tonights game, ROCK THE RED !

 

Zach Hart

Shades of Red D.C.