Caps vs. Panthers 11-19-2007 Preview

Washington Capitals (6-13; 13 points) vs. Florida Panthers (8-13; 17 points):
Caps Game #20, Home Game #8, NHL Game #292

Verizon Center, Washington, D.C. 7:07 pm. Washington TV: Comcast Sportsnet Mid-Atlantic. Radio: WWWT 1500-AM, 107.7-FM. Florida TV: Fox SportsNet Florida. Radio: WAXY 790-AM. Canadian National TV: NHL Network. NHL Center Ice: Comcast Sportsnet Mid-Atlantic Feed.

Tonight the Caps return home for five of their next seven on home ice opening the stretch with the Florida Panthers. The Caps and Panthers met 4 days ago in Sunrise with the Caps falling 2-1. Since then the Panthers lost Saturday night in Carolina by the same score. These two teams are going to become well acquainted with each other as this is the second of four meetings between the two team in 17 days.

What The Natives Are Saying:

(Com)Post. Times. Caps.com.

Neutral Views:

NHL.com AP Wire.

Open Source Intelligence:

Miami Herald: Slump ended, daily report.

What Do I Expect Tonight?:

Giddy over the return of Alexander Semin are you? Forgetting that Captain Chris Clark's return also came against the Panthers last week and yielded familiar results? Add in Glen Hanlon's fetish with John Erskine Bowles rearing it's ugly head again and there shouldn't be much doubt about how this game is going to turn out. If you're looking for a bright side to tonight's game, at least we now finally have our full lineup on the ice. Sure you can lean on chemistry and the conditioning of Semin, but all hands are on deck now and this is the lineup the coach wants. So no more excuses for poor results.

Caps Nut Official Prediction:

Caps 2
Panthers 3
Winner by Weiss

(9-10 on the season)