Caps vs. Ning 12-26-2007 Preview

Washington Capitals (13-23; 30 points) vs. Tampa Bay Lightning (15-21; 33 points):
Caps Game #37, Home Game #18, NHL Game #539

Verizon Center, Washington, D.C. 7:07 pm. Washington TV: Comcast Sportsnet Mid-Atlantic. Radio: WWWT 1500-AM, 107.7-FM. Tampa TV: Sunshine Network. Radio: WDAE 620-AM. NHL Center Ice: Comcast Sportsnet Mid-Atlantic feed.

Tonight the Caps come back from the holiday break by hosting the Tampa Bay Lightning at the Phone Booth for the fifth meeting meeting the two teams this season and for the third time at the Phone Booth. The season series is split right now at two games apiece with the games being split in both cities. The Ning are only three points ahead of the Caps largely because of the worst road record in the NHL. The Ning have only three wins on the road this season (one of them from their last trip to the Phone Booth) and have turned to rookie Karri Ramo in goal to try to bail the team out. He was in net for Tampa's most recent game, a 4-1 loss at home to Carolina on Saturday night but gave up only two goals (the other two were into an empty net). The Ning have lost four of their last five games.

What The Natives Are Saying:

(Com)Post. Times. Caps.com.

Neutral Views:

NHL.com AP Wire.

Open Source Intelligence:

St. Petersburg Times. Tampa Tribune.

What Do I Expect Tonight?:

The doldrums of November-December hockey are going to slowly start to melt away as teams start to pick things up for the stretch run. Both teams come into tonight's game needing to get back into the hunt for the playoffs with the Caps sitting 8 points out while the Ning are 5 points away but sit at the bottom of the Eastern Conference making tonight's game the "NHL Pillow Fight of the Night." So this is a pretty big game for both teams as they both need to get going if they want to make the playoffs and throwing out the hot young rookie goaltender is usually a good move against the Caps. With three games in four nights in three different cities to wrap up the 2007 portion of the schedule, we'll get a good idea how the remainder of the Caps season will go. So far under Bruce Boudreau the Caps have responded well when backed against a wall but you have to wonder how much longer the team will hold out under the pressure created by their poor start.

Caps Nut Official Prediction:

Caps 3
Ning 2
Winner by Semin

(23-13 on the season)