Caps @ Penguin Scum 1-21-2010 Preview

Washington Capitals (31-18; 68 points; 1st Southeast Division, 1st Eastern Conference, 3rd Overall) @ Pittsburgh Penguin Scum (31-20; 63 points; 2nd Atlantic Division, 4th Eastern Conference, 6th Overall):
Caps Game #50, Road Game #27, NHL Game #750

Caps "Magic Numbers" (Caps Points Earned+Lost by team named) to clinch:
Playoff Spot: 49 Atlanta
Southeast Division Championship: 49 Atlanta
Eastern Conference #1 Seed: 67 New Jersey
President's Trophy: 68 Chicago and San Jose

Mellon Arena, Pittsburgh, PA, 7:37 pm. Washington TV: Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic. Radio: WFED 1500-AM. Pittsburgh TV: Fox Sportsnet Pittsburgh. Radio: WXDX 105.9-FM.  U.S. National TV: NHL Network (Fox Sportsnet Pittsburgh feed)  NHL Center Ice: None.

Tonight, for the first time since the hose got turned on them in the second round last spring, the Caps face the Penguin Scum in Pittsburgh.  Last year, the Caps actually won the season series, 3-1, against the Penguin Scum with Pittsburgh's lone win coming in a gimmick.  However when these two teams met in the playoffs, the hose was turned on and it took the NHL seven games to get rid of the Caps.  This year the Penguin Scum are once again muddling around in the middle of the Eastern Conference with a hammer lock on fourth place.  The Penguin Scum have been all over the map recently, they have five wins in their last ten games with three wins in their last four.  After getting smoked 6-2 in Vancouver on Saturday night, they came home on Tuesday night and posted a 6-4 win over the New York Islanders in their last game.

What The Natives Are Saying:


(Com)Post.  Examiner.  Caps.com.

Neutral Views:

NHL.com.  AP Wire.

Open Source Intelligence:

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: irregularity, he's a hockey player, we hope there weren't too many, trade them, the consequences.  Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: not concerned, might play, scouting report.  Penguin Scum.com.

What Do We Expect Tonight?:

Earlier this week Bruce Boudreau said that when these two teams meet, you toss the book away.  And he's right, as a matter of fact, whenever the Penguin Scum take the ice, this is the first book that you toss into the trash.  So how much of a chance do the Caps have putting six players on the ice versus the nine the Penguin Scum are allowed?  Well, it might be better than you think.  First of all, as mentioned in some of the Pittsburgh article, the Penguin Scum aren't too concerned about this game.  They see it as just another regular season contest.  Ok, but even if you believe that, there's the injuries, Marc-Andre Fleury is out with a broken finger so our old friend Brent Johnson gets the start in goal tonight for the Penguin Scum.  We admit, we chuckled when we saw that he has a 4-0 record with a 1.15 GAA against the Caps because that was achieved before the Caps got the likes of Captain A.O. and company.  While Johnson could get the win tonight, we have serious doubts that he'll do it by giving up less than two goals, especially since he's coming off of a leg injury and making his first back-to-back start this season.  The biggest cause for our concern tonight is the Caps Penalty Killing on the road which in a word, stinks.  Only Toronto has a harder time killing penalties on enemy ice than the Caps do.  So if the Zebras have as active of a role tonight as they did last May, it will come down to whoever scores last and the referees can have something to say about that with when, where, and why they blow the whistle.  Finally, as the most respected blogger on the Pittsburgh Penguin Scum Message Boards, we want everybody who is laughing at the KoOkY KoNSpIrAcY ThEoRiSt right now to explain the 21 seconds for us.  If you don't know what we're talking about, then shame on you.

Caps Nut Official Prediction:

Caps 4
Penguin Scum 6
Winner by Canadian Diving Team Captain, Lowblow Secondary Assist Cindy Crosby
(24-25 on the season with one perfect game)