Caps @ Ning 4-9-2009 Preview

Washington Capitals (49-31; 106 points; 1st Southeast Division, 2nd Eastern Conference, 4th Overall) @ Tampa Bay Lightning (24-56; 66 points; 5th Southeast Division, 14th Eastern Conference, 29th Overall):
Caps Game #81, Road Game #40, NHL Game #1,205

St. Pete Times Forum, Tampa, FL. 7:38 pm. Washington TV: Comcast Sportsnet Mid-Atlantic. Radio: WJFK 106.7-FM, WTOP 1050-AM. Tampa TV: Sunshine Network. Radio: WDAE 620-AM. NHL Center Ice: Sunshine Network feed.

Tonight the Caps can cement their place in the NHL standings with a single point against the Ning, or at least what's left of them. But more on that later, the Ning are coming off of Tuesday night's 6-4 loss at home to the Penguin Scum which ran their current losing streak to seven games. The Ning have just one win in their last eleven games as they are playing out the string with their final home game of the season tonight.

What The Natives Are Saying:

(Com)Post. Times. Caps.com.

Neutral Observers:

NHL.com AP Wire.

Open Source Intelligence:

St. Petersburg Times: earning respect, game preview. Tampa Tribune.

What Do We Expect Tonight?:

To say that the Ning are beaten up and bruised would be an understatement. Since the last time the Caps played the Ning, and they weren't all that healthy to begin with, Vincent Lecavalier's season has come to an end due to a wrist injury. Ryan Malone joined the injury parade on Wednesday by having his season ended by a broken right hand. So what do you think is going to happen to a team that has a non-existent defense to begin with when they start losing their talented forwards as well? Sure they still have Martin St. Louis but when the Caps had just A.O. after the lockout, things weren't too good here in D.C. because you need more than one player to win in the NHL. Tonight will be another glorified scrimmage because if the Caps came out and played as if this were a playoff game against a playoff opponent, they would hang double digits on the Ning in the first period and we all know that just isn't going to happen. We can only imagine how bad the Caps would have to play to actually lose this game tonight and break their streak of 10 consecutive wins over the Ning and quite frankly, we don't want to see it.

Caps Nut Official Prediction:

Caps 6
Ning 1
Winner by Fehr

(12-11 on the season)

Editorial Note for the Dozen Readers of this Blog:

Well folks, it is that time of year again. It is Easter Season in case you heathens haven't figured it out and we've been scheduled as we usually are to help out at the Mass of the Lord's Supper Tonight. The services begin at 7:30 pm which means that we can't watch tonight's game. Therefore, there will be no Post-Mortem.