Caps @ Thrashers 2-13-2008 Preview

Washington Capitals (27-30; 59 points; 2nd Southeast Division, 10th Eastern Conference, 21st Overall) @ Atlanta Thrashers (27-31; 58 points; 3rd Southeast Division, 11th Eastern Conference, 22nd Overall):
Caps Game #58, Road Game #29, NHL Game #863

Phillips Arena, Atlanta, GA, 7:08 pm. Washington TV: Comcast Sportsnet Mid-Atlantic. Radio: WWWT 1500-AM, 107.7-FM. Atlanta TV: None. Radio: WCNN 680-AM. NHL Center Ice: Comcast Sportsnet Mid-Atlantic feed.

Tonight the Caps start a big road trip when they play three games in four nights against Southeast Division teams currently trailing them in the standings. First up is the Atlanta Thrashers who sit one point behind the Caps. The Thrashers lead the season series 3-2 winning the most recently matchup earlier this month 2-0 at the Phone Booth. Ilya Kovalchuk has returned to the Thrashers lineup but Atlanta has lost two of the three games since their February 2nd win over the Caps. However, they did register a 2-1 win over the Ning on Saturday night in their most recent game.

What The Natives Are Saying:

(Com)Post. Times. Caps.com.

Neutral Views:

NHL.com AP Wire

Open Source Intelligence:

Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

What Do I Expect Tonight?:

When these teams met a week and a half ago, the Caps had a chance to pass the Thrashers on their home ice. Now it is Atlanta's chance to pass the Caps on home ice. When Atlanta came to D.C., they switched to a conservative counter-attack game and as a result, have played nothing but one goal games since and have yet to score more than two goals in a game. The Caps had their chances last time but weren't willing to pay the price to cash them in. There's no reason to expect the Thrashers to play any differently but will the Caps be willing to get their noses dirty tonight? Bruce Boudreau is rewarding Olie Kolzig for his performance Sunday with his first start in Atlanta in a long time and is hoping that Kolzig's steady play of late continues.

Caps Nut Official Prediction:

Caps 2
Atlanta 1
Winner by Ovechkin

(29-28 on the season)