Caps vs. Islanders 3-3-2007 Preview

Washington Capitals (24-41; 60 points; 5th Southeast Division, 14th Eastern Conference, 25th Overall) vs. New York Islanders (32-32; 73 points, 3rd Atlantic Division, 8th Eastern Conference, 16th Overall):
Caps Game #66, Home Game #35, NHL Game #978

Verizon Center, Washington, D.C. 7:05 pm. Washington TV: Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic. Radio: WTEM 980-AM. New York TV: Fox Sportsnet New York. Radio: WBBR 1130-AM. National TV: HD-NET. NHL Center Ice: Comcast SporstNet Mid-Atlantic feed.

Tonight the Caps wrap up a four game homestand looking to salvage at least one win out of the four. They're hosting the New York Islanders who had their four game winning streak snapped by the St. Louis Blues 3-2 in overtime on Long Island Thursday night. After tonight, the Caps have just six games at home against ten on the road. So your chances of watching the Caps in person this season is becoming remote.

What The Natives Are Saying:

(Com)Post. Times: Injury bug, Caps update. Caps.com.

Open Source Intelligence:

New York Post. Newsday.

Neutral Views:

NHL.com AP Wire.

What Do I Expect Tonight?:

Well, after getting the blueline healed, the injury bug has struck the forward ranks and now the Caps look to be without Matt "Princess" Pettinger for the rest of the season and Boyd Gordon for most of the remainder. Add in Eric Fehr's lingering back injury, Captain Chris Clark's injury, along with the trades earlier this week and the Caps scraping the bottom of the barrel to come up with 12 forwards. The Caps are in another game where they can play spoiler. A win in regulation tonight will help out the Canes the most as Carolina holds onto the 7th seed by virtue of a tiebreaker, however the Isles have three games in hand. Montreal and Toronto are also pulling for the Caps tonight.

Caps Nut Official Washington Hockey.com Predict The Score Contest Entry:

Caps 4
Isles 5
Winner by Smyth

Editorial Note For The Loyal Readers Of This Blog:

Once again and what I hope for the final time this season, work commitments will likely prevent me from watching all of tonight's game. Because I am likely to miss some if not most of the first period, it is unlikely that there will be Post-Mortem later tonight.