Caps @ Hurricanes 11-30-2007 Preview

Washington Capitals (8-17; 18 points) @ Carolina Hurricanes (13-12; 29 points):
Caps Game #26, Road Game #14, NHL Game #365

RBC Center, Raleigh, NC. 7:07 pm. Washington TV: Comcast Sportsnet Mid-Atlantic. Radio: WWWT 1500-AM, 107.7-FM. Carolina TV: None. Radio: WCNC 99.9-FM. NHL Center Ice: Comcast Sportsnet Mid-Atlantic feed.

Tonight the Caps head out on the road for the first of back-to-back games away from home when they visit the Carolina Hurricanes. The Caps defeated the Canes 5-2 this past Saturday night at home in the third meeting of these two teams this season. Since then the Canes lost to the Flyers on home ice on Wednesday night, 3-1, for their third loss in their last four games. So far this season, the home team in this series has held serve and won on home ice.

What The Natives Are Saying:

(Com)Post. Times. Caps.com.

Neutral Views:

NHL.com AP Wire.

Open Source Intelligence:

Durham Herald-Sun. Raleigh News & Observer: goals drying up, eye on the Canes. Canes.com.

What Do I Expect Tonight?:

The injury bug has stung again as the Caps head into tonight's game with Captain Chris Clark, Boyd Gordon, and Alexander Semin heading towards the shelf again with injuries. The good news for the Caps is that after tomorrow night's game, there is a five day break in the schedule for these injuries to heal (though Gordon is listed as "week-to-week"). The bad news is that they have two divisional road games to play before they get to that break. (On a side note, why can't it be Mr. Donald Brashear or John Erskine Bowles who get hurt? Not that I would ever wish an injury on anybody {ok, Canadian Diving Team Captain, Secondary Assist Cindy Crosby excluded} but why do the players we would actually miss end up getting hurt? Murphy's Law would put A.O. and Olie Kolzig on the shelf) Special teams could be the big factor in tonight's game as the Canes have the 2nd overall Power Play but the 29th Penalty Kill. This of course means that the Caps could desperately use another 3-for-4 performance on the Power Play while staying out of the penalty box as the last time the Caps went into Raleigh, they gave up 3 Power Play goals, including two in the first period.

Caps Nut Official Prediction:

Caps 2
Canes 4
Winner by Stillman

(15-10 on the season)

Editorial Note For The Dozens of Readers of This Blog:

I will not be watching this game tonight because I will be heading out to College Park to watch the Maryland Women play Ohio State in the Inaugural Women's ACC Beatdown of the Big "Ten." Therefore, there will be no Post-Mortem after tonight's hockey game.