Caps vs. Penguin Scum 2-7-2010 Preview

Washington Capitals (40-18; 86 points; 1st Southeast Division, 1st Eastern Conference, 1st Overall) vs. Pittsburgh Penguin Scum (35-23; 72 points; 2nd Atlantic Division, 4th Eastern Conference, 8th Overall):
Caps Game #59, Home Game #29, NHL Game #870

Caps "Magic Numbers" (Caps Points Earned+Lost by team named) to clinch:
Playoff Spot: 22 Montreal and Atlanta
Southeast Division Championship: 25 Tampa Bay
Eastern Conference #1 Seed: 38 New Jersey
President's Trophy: 47 San Jose

Verizon Center, Washington, D.C. 12:08 pm. Washington TV: None. Radio: WFED 1500-AM.  Pittsburgh TV: None . Radio: WXDX 105.9-FM.  U.S. National TV: NBC NHL Center Ice: None.

Today break out the snow shovels, rock salt, ice picks, snow blowers, sand bags, snow shoes, flamethrowers, snow chains, cross-country skis, or whatever it is you need to get out of your house because it is GAME ON!  The Caps are looking for their 14th win in a row against a Penguin Scum team that is starting to climb back into the race for the Atlantic Division Championship.  This is the second meeting between the two teams this season and the Penguin Scum's first visit to the Phone Booth this season.  Caps skated off with a 6-3 win back in January for win #5 on the current streak.  The Penguin Scum have won four of their six games since the teams last met 17 days ago.  However, they dropped an ugly 5-3 decision in Montreal yesterday to the Canadiens.

What The Natives Are Saying:

(Com)Post.  Caps.com.

Neutral Views:

NHL.com.  AP Wire.  NBC

Open Source Intelligence:

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: rink rust, best chance at the Hall, notebook.  Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: disappointing, improving health, memory lane, GAME ON!  Penguin Scum.com.

What Do We Expect Today?:

Well folks, thank the Nothing But Cindy network's desire for its 1.0 rating for forcing this game to go on today even though it could easily be played tomorrow night.  None the less, after a Homeric Odyssey that put the Penguin Scum in D.C. roughly 8 hours after their game yesterday in Montreal and less than 12 hours before today's faceoff there is a game in Downtown D.C. today.  While the Caps had their practice yesterday canceled, removing 20-30 inches of snow so you can get out of your house is a lot of work, trust us, we know.  The Caps are once again playing their fourth game in six days and the Penguin Scum are playing the back end of a back-to-back set of games on the road in addition to the minor leaguesque travel.  Because we were horribly wrong about the expected crowd on Friday night, we'll refrain from making predictions on today's crowd but we do think you'll see two tired hockey teams trudging up and down the ice today as the adrenaline wears off rather quickly.  After all, there is no rivalry here if you listen to the Yinzers.  Furthermore, they also tells that no matter who wins today, it is only a regular season game and doesn't really matter anyway.  Penguin Scum Head Coach Dan Bylsma was expecting to play Marc-Andre Fleury in both games this weekend because the Penguin Scum had four days off before yesterday's game.  However, M.-A. F. got yanked in the third period after a lackluster performance.  Could we see Brent Johnson in goal instead today?  Who knows, we have to get outside and start de-icing our car so we can get to a Metro station that is actually open.

Caps Nut Official Prediction:

Caps 6
Penguin Scum 2
Winner by Semin
(31-27 on the season with one perfect game)