Caps @ Ning 2-14-2009 Preview

Thanks Katie, but we'll take it from here...

Washington Capitals (34-21; 73 points; 1st Southeast Division, 3rd Eastern Conference, 5th Overall) @ Tampa Bay Lightning (19-36; 49 points; 4th Southeast Division, 12th in the Eastern Conference, 27th Overall):
Caps Game #56, Away Game #29, NHL Game #829

St. Pete Times Forum, Tampa, FL 7:38 pm. Washington TV: Comcast Sportsnet Mid-Atlantic. Radio: WFED 1500-AM. Tampa TV: Sunshine Network. Radio: WDAE 620-AM. NHL Center Ice: Sunshine Network feed.

Tonight, four months into the season, the Caps make their first trip into the Sunshine State when they head into Tampa to face the Ning. The Caps are coming off a 5-4 gimmick loss to the Rangers on Wednesday night but have won four of their last six games overall. The Ning are coming off a 6-4 win over Toronto on Thursday night but have lost five of their last seven games and are playing the fourth game of a six game homestand.

What The Natives Are Saying:

(Com)Post. Times. Caps.com.

Neutral Views:

NHL.com AP Wire

Open Source Intelligence:

St. Petersberg Times. Tampa Tribune. Ning.com

What Do We Expect Tonight?:

Far be it from us to begrudge anybody their vacations and days off, but we've never been fans of the Florida weekend for the Caps, especially when the team heads to Florida early for the specific task of taking a day off. The sand and sun really works into their skates and Caps always come out with a sub-par effort. Already with a weak/neglected defense, the presumptive Southeast Division Champion Ning are now dealing with mounting injuries in goal and have lost the last seven games to the Caps. So of course it sounds like a perfect time to breakout yet another 20 year old goaltender making his NHL debut. The good news is that against the Ning the Caps won't need a full effort to pull out a win tonight. We only hope that is the case here.

Caps Nut Official Prediction:

Caps 6
Ning 4
Winner by Laich