Caps @ Canadiens 11-28-2009 Preview

Washington Capitals (14-11; 34 points) @ Montreal Canadiens (12-13; 25 points):
Caps Game #26, Road Game #13, NHL Game #370, A.O. Probation Game #1

Bell Centre, Montreal, Quebec, Canada 7:10 pm. Washington TV: Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic Plus. Radio: WFED 1500-AM. Montreal TV: None. Radio: CJAD 880-AM.  U.S. National TV:  NHL Network (CBC Feed).  Canadian National TV: CBC, RDS (French).

Tonight, the Caps return to Canada when they head up to Montreal to face the Canadiens.  If you remember, this was planned to be an outdoor game but that never came to pass.  Never the less, this is the second time the Caps and Habs have met his season.  The Canadiens won eight days ago in D.C. by a score of 3-2.  Since since, the Canadiens are 1-2 with the lone win coming Tuesday night at home against Columbus.  However, in their last outing, the Canadiens lost 3-1 in Pittsburgh to the Penguin Scum on Wednesday night.

What The Natives Are Saying:


(Com)Post.  Times.  Caps.com.

Neutral Views:

NHL.com.  AP Wire.

Open Source Intelligence:

The Gazette.

What Do We Expect Tonight?:

Well folks, not much difference from the scouting report last week except that Montreal did manage to finally lose a game after regulation when one week ago, they dropped a 3-2 gimmick decision to the Detroit Red Wings on home ice one night after winning in D.C.  The Caps will want to convert any Power Play chances they get, provided they get any, but want to stay out of the Penalty Box.  The Caps also need to finish their chances, something they didn't do enough of 8 days ago.  The Caps hit three goalposts that night and missed on other prime opportunities.  Finally, the Caps want to get out to an early lead tonight.  The Canadiens packed things in late in the third period last Friday, getting out shot 16-4 and there's no reason to think that they wouldn't do it again if they got a lead tonight.

Caps Nut Official Prediction:

Caps 3
Canadiens 2
Winner by B. Morrrissonn
(10-15 on the season with one perfect game)

Editorial Note For the Dozen Readers of This Blog:

Well folks, we have a soft spot for a coach who has a record of 66-45 including a Conference Championship at a school that merely pays lip service to seriously competing at the Division 1A level in football.  We want to see what could end up being that man's final game and because the Maryland-Boston College game kicks off at 3:30 and is being televised on ESPNU, we won't be getting out of the game until well after the Caps game tonight has already started.  And especially because we'll be forced to hear the unduclet tones of Steve Kolbe on the ride home from the game, there will be no Post-Mortem tonight.