Caps @ Rangers 11-1-2007 Preview

Washington Capitals (5-6; 10 points) @ New York Rangers (4-7; 9 points):
Caps Game #12, Road Game #7, NHL Game #174

Madison Square Garden, New York, NY. 7:07 pm. Washington TV: Comcast Sportsnet Mid-Atlantic. Radio: WWWT 1500-AM, 107.7-FM. New York TV: MSG. Radio: WEPN 1050-AM. NHL Center Ice: MSG feed.

Tonight the Caps get their first chance to avenge a loss when they return to Madison Square Garden tonight to face the Rangers. The Caps were there almost three weeks ago and suffered their first defeat on the season falling 3-1. The Caps take another banged up lineup onto the ice tonight, the same one that thumped the Maple Leafs 7-1 on Tuesday night. The Rangers on the other hand are slowly putting things together as they have won two of their past three games. However, their offense is still sputtering but showing some signs of life.

What The Natives Are Saying:

(Com)Post. Times. Caps.com.

Neutral Views:

NHL.com AP Wire.

Open Source Intelligence:

New York Daily News. New York Post. Rangers.com.

What Do I Expect Tonight?:

The Caps go from facing a high-powered offensive club to the lowest scoring team in the NHL. Not only do the Rangers not score very many goals, they're also very good at shutting down the opposing team as they have one of the best Goals Against Average in the league. So tonight's game will be low scoring and the special teams will play a large role. The Caps can do themselves all kinds of favors tonight by simply staying out of the penalty box. When these two teams last met, the Caps took 6 penalties in the first period and nine total in the game. The Rangers scored all three of their goals on the Power Play so the good news is that the Caps only lost 3-1. So if the Caps can stay out of the penalty box and play as active of a game as they've played recently, they should do alright. The Rangers could have Sean Avery back tonight and are hoping he will provide some spark for their floundering offense. But Rangers may not need it as the Caps haven't won in MSG since January 28th, 2004.

Caps Nut Official Prediction:

Caps 1
Rangers 2
Winner by Jagr

(3-7 on the season)