Caps @ Thrashers 10-29-2009 Preview

Washington Capitals (7-4; 16 points) @ Atlanta Thrashers (4-4; 9 points):
Caps Game #12, Road Game #6, NHL Game #166

Phillips Arena, Atlanta, GA, 7:07 pm. Washington TV: Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic. Radio: WFED 1500-AM. Atlanta TV: SportSouth. Radio: WCNN 680-AM. U.S. National TV: NHL Network. NHL Center Ice: None.

Tonight, the Caps head back down to Atlanta to face the Thrashers for the second time his season. The Thrashers have played only once since losing to the Caps 5-4 last Thursday and it was big loss, 4-3, at home to the San Jose Sharks on Saturday night. Ilya Kovalchuk broke his foot in that game and tonight will be the first time since that injury on Saturday night that the Thrashers will play a game.

What The Natives Are Saying:

(Com)Post. Times: booking, Oinked. Caps.com.

Neutral Views:

NHL.com. AP Wire.

Open Source Intelligence:

Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

What Do We Expect Tonight?:

Coming off a huge win on Tuesday night and riding a five game winning streak, tonight's game has all the classic signs of being a trap game. The Caps and the Thrashers played each other last week and the Caps got away with a win, the Thrashers have lost three in a row, and now their star player is going to be out for at least a month. The Caps have won five of the last six meetings against the Thrashers, are on five game winning streak right now, are coming off a huge win at home in front of an excited crowd on Tuesday night, and now will be playing in front of a dead crowd on the road. Anybody want to bet that the Caps come out flat tonight? Furthermore teams that are dealing with injuries to their star players initially have a boost in their own play as everybody pitches in at the start of that stretch to pick up the slack for the fallen player. While the Caps catch a break in that they don't have to contain Kovalchuk tonight, they do have tighten up on everybody else which can be a much tougher task, especially after giving up 43 shots on Tuesday night, 20 in the third period alone. Finally, the Caps were very sloppy last week in Atlanta yet still got the win, maybe they'll be better tonight but given the recent history of this team playing down to the level of their competition, we're not holding our breath here.

Caps Nut Official Prediction:

Caps 3
Thrashers 4
Winner by Peverley
(5-6 on the season with one perfect game we're going to let you know about until this season ends)