Game 3 Caps @. Canadiens 4-19-2010 Preview

Series A: Washington Capitals (55-29; 121 points; 1st Southeast Division, 1st Eastern Conference, 1st Overall) vs. Montreal Canadiens (40-44; 88 points; 4th Northeast Division, 8th Eastern Conference, 19th Overall):
Caps Playoff Game #3, Road Playoff Game #1, NHL Playoff Game #113

Bell Centre, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, 7:07 pm. Washington TV: Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic. Radio: WJFK 106.7-FM. Montreal TV: None. Radio: CJAD 880-AM.  Canadian National TV: TSN, RDS (French).  NHL Center Ice: Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic feed.

Tonight, the Caps head to Montreal to play Game 3 of the series against the Canadiens.  The Caps are 11-20 in Game 3 with an 8-10 record on the road.  When the series is tied at 1-1, the Caps are 7-11.

What The Natives Are Saying:

(Com)Post: two-headed monster, there can only be one.  Examiner.  Caps.com.

Neutral Views:

NHL.com: preview, moving on.  AP Wire.  TSN.ca.  ESPN.com.

Open Source Intelligence:

Montreal Gazette: not going there, possible return, so far so good.  Canadiens.com.

What Do We Expect Tonight?:

You gotta love the playoffs with all the extra head games going on.  Captain A.O.'s comments about Jaroslav Halak does nothing else but shift the focus away from the Caps goaltending situation for a little bit.  Who Bruce Boudreau goes with in goal tonight will scrutinized from here till the cows come home no matter what the outcome is but at the other end, Halak has allowed 8 goals on 84 shots in the two games so far  Respectable numbers but after allowing 6 goals on 37 shots on Saturday night; there has to be creeping doubts about him too.  But for the Caps, we think Boudreau is going to go with Semyon "The Saviour" Varlamov tonight in part to protect Jose "Alvin, Simon," Theodore from the crowd in Montreal.  The Saviour just hasn't been the same since his knee injury in December so the Caps are likely going to have to go all-offense, all the time in order to win the rest of this series.  And if the Caps can continue to get in Halak's face physically and mentally as they did on Saturday night, they should be able to outgun Montreal.  And if the Power Play gets going, this series will be lights out.

Caps Nut Official Prediction:

Caps 5
Canadiens 3
Winner by Captain A.O.
(1-1 in the playoffs, 48-38 for the year with two perfect games)