Caps @ Bruins 2-28-2009 Wrap Up/ Caps vs. Florida 3-1-2009 Preview

The Local Yokels:

(Com)Post. Times.

The Neutral Observers:

NHL.com: AP Wire, long range bomb.

The Other Side:

Boston Globe: slapped around, stinging shot, trade winds. Boston Herald: Capital Gains, down in the dumps, switching gears, trade coming.

Final Thoughts:

And so the lead is now 8 points and each team has 19 games left. According to this site, the Caps need to go 16-3 to have chance a 15% chance of earning the first seed so we'll need another miracle run at the end of the season to catch Boston. Furthermore, the Bruins have 11 home games left, the Caps have 9. The Bruins play 9 games against teams currently in the playoffs, the Caps play 7 games. You do the math folks, this won't be easy.

63 down, 19 to go.


Washington Capitals (40-23; 85 points; 1st Southeast Division, 2nd Eastern Conference, 4th Overall) vs. Florida Panthers (31-31; 70 points; 2nd Southeast Division, 7th Eastern Conference, 12th Overall):
Caps Game #64, Home Game #33, NHL Game #935

Verizon Center, Washington, DC. 3:08 pm. Washington TV: Comcast Sportsnet Mid-Atlantic. Radio: WFED 1500-AM. Florida TV: Fox SportsNet Florida Radio: WAXY 790-AM. NHL Center Ice: Comcast Sportsnet Mid-Atlantic feed.

Today the Caps are playing the home half of back to back games and their third game in four days when they face the Florida Panthers. The Caps have won two in a row and their last two games against Florida. The Panthers have been alternating wins and losses for the past two weeks over 8 games. They were bombed again for the second time in three games yesterday in New Jersey when they lost 7-2. In their last four losses, the Panthers have allowed at least four goals and are playing the fourth game of a five game road trip.

What The Natives Are Saying:

Caps.com

Neutral Views:

NHL.com AP Wire.

Open Source Intelligence:

Miami Herald: thoroughly beaten, grounded, power outage.

What Do We Expect Today?:

Well folks, this could be wild one today in more ways than one. We've been monitoring the reports of the pending Bill Guerin trade, which is supposed to be finalized this morning, and the rumors swirling that the Caps are involved. Jay Beagle's name has surfaced and as with any trade, Michael "Meadowlark" Nylander's has also popped up. But who really knows what General Manager George McPhee has up his sleeve? This could take awhile to hash out folks so don't expect to see Guerin in a Caps uniform today or on Tuesday night for that matter if he is in fact coming to D.C. There is also the impending doom seeking to destroy us all. Oh, and did we mention there's a game today? It is a pretty big one too as the Caps lead over Florida has grown to 15 points, and while Florida has a game in hand, a win today in regulation would just about end the Southeast Division race as the Caps magic number for the division title would shrink to 21 points with 18 games remaining. But not only are the Caps going to have to work through the fatigue of playing in back-to-back games along with their third game in four days, they're also going to have to deal with the distraction of a trade either about to be made or already completed and announced. Luckily, they have a large enough margin for error so a loss to Florida won't be devastating to their hopes of a top three finish.

Caps Nut Official Prediction:

Caps 5
Panthers 2
Winner by Gordon

(5-3 on the season)