Washington Capitals

Game #7: San Jose Sharks at Washington Capitals

Where: Verizon Center, Washington, DC

When: October 15, 2009 7:00 PM

History:
Caps Record on this Date: 2-5-2-0
Caps Game 7 Record: 9-20-5-0
All-Time vs. SAN: 8-15-1-1
All-Time at home vs. SAN: 5-7-0-1
Last Season vs. SAN: 0-1-0
Last Meeting: 11/22/08, WAS 2 SAN 7

This Year:

WAS Record: 2-2-2
Standings Points: 6
Division Rank: 2nd
Conference Rank: 8th
Last Game: 10/12/09, WAS 2 NJ 3 (OT-SO)
Streak: Loss 4

SAN Record: 3-2-1
Standings Points: 7
Division Rank: 3rd
Conference Rank: 8th
Last Game: 10/12/09, SAN 0 PHO 1
Streak: Loss 1

Probable Line-Ups:
Washington
Forward Line 1: 8 OVECHKIN, 9 MORRISON, 22 KNUBLE
Forward Line 2: 21 LAICH, 19 BACKSTROM, 28 SEMIN
Forward Line 3: 16 FEHR, 39 STECKEL, 17 CLARK
Forward Line 4: 53 LAING, 15 GORDON, 10 BRADLEY
Defense Pair 1: 26 MORRISONN, 52 GREEN
Defense Pair 2: 23 JURCINA, 3 POTI
Defense Pair 3: 55 SCHULTZ, 2 POTHIER
Goalie: 40 VARLAMOV
Back-up Goalie: 60 THEODORE
Scratch: 92 NYLANDER, 89 SLOAN

San Jose
Forward Line 1: 15 HEATLEY, 19 THORNTON, 16 SETOGUCHI
Forward Line 2: 29 CLOWE, 12 MARLEAU, 41 ORTMEYER
Forward Line 3: 64 MCGINN, 27 MALHOTRA, 78 FERRIERO
Forward Line 4: 45 SHELLEY, 21 NICHOL, 59 STAUBITZ
Defense Pair 1: 22 BOYLE, 4 BLAKE
Defense Pair 2: 3 MURRAY, 44 VLASIC
Defense Pair 3: 40 HUSKINS, 60 DEMERS
Goalie: 20 NABOKOV
Back-up Goalie: 1 GREISS

Injuries:
Washington - 14 FLEISCHMANN (blood clot) IR, 4 ERSKINE (upper body) DTD

San Jose - 17 MITCHELL (knee) IR, 8 PAVELSKI (lower body) IR

Caps Milestones:
Tom Poti needs 4 points to reach 300 in his career.
Mike Green needs 6 assists to reach 100 in his career.
Mike Knuble needs 2 penalty minute to reach 500 in his career.

Preview:
The Capitals take on the San Jose Sharks in a battle of underachieving division winners. Both teams have sputtered at the start of the season and are looking to get back on track. Washington has lost their last 4 outings and San Jose is coming off a whitewashing at the hands of the Phoenix Coyotes. I expect the two teams to be very well prepared for this game. The action should be fast paced as both teams like to get up and go. Head Coach Bruce Boudreau has changed up the top line by moving up Brendan Morrison and Mike Knuble to play with Alex Ovechkin, we’ll watch and see what that does to the second line. Look for some contribution from the third and fourth lines. They have been noticeably absent in the first 6 games and need to chip in some offensive production. I think this will be a great game to watch as both teams are highly skilled but the Caps should pull it out with a third period push.

Joe’s prediction: Caps 5 SAN 3

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