Caps vs. Canadiens 12-20-2007 Preview

Washington Capitals (13-21; 29 points) vs. Montreal Canadiens (16-17; 37 points):
Caps Game #35, Home Game #17, NHL Game #503

Verizon Center, Washington, D.C. 7:07 pm. Washington TV: Comcast Sportsnet Mid-Atlantic. Radio: WWWT 1500-AM, 107.7-FM. Montreal TV: None Radio: CJAD 800-am. Canadian National TV: RDS (French). NHL Center Ice: Comcast Sportsnet Mid-Atlantic feed.

Tonight the Caps are at home one last time before Christmas to welcome the Montreal Canadiens to the Phone Booth in the first meeting of the two teams this season. The Habs are taking the second best road record in the NHL on the road for the start of a six game road swing. Tonight starts a three games in four nights on the road stretch for Montreal which will end on Sunday night in Dallas. The Canadiens are coming off a 3-2 loss at home to Florida on Tuesday night and won two of their last three games on the road.

What The Natives Are Saying:

(Com)Post. Times. Caps.com.

Neutral Views:

NHL AP Wire.

Open Source Intelligence:

Montreal Gazette.

What Do I Expect Tonight?:

The Caps claim to have come away from Monday night's game with all kinds of confidence so what will that translate into? Will the Caps continue to work hard or will they begin to get the idea that they're better than their record and try to coast? So far Bruce Boudreau tongue lashings last about a week so with a game tonight and Saturday on Long Island, I'd say it is a pretty good bet that the Caps will come out flat in one of those two games. This game could very much look like what we saw on Monday night. The Canadiens have the best Power Play and second best Penalty Killers in the NHL, so the more the Caps keep the game at 5 on 5, the better off they're likely to be. Getting out to an early lead would also be helpful to the Caps as Montreal has yet to win a game it was trailing after one period.

Caps Nut Official Prediction:

Caps 3
Canadiens 2
Winner by Semin

(23-11 on the season)