Morning Skate: Capitals at Red Wings
Game 79
5p ET, Joe Loius Arena
Detroit, MI
TV: Fox Sports Detroit, NHL Netwrok
Radio: 97.1 The Ticket
Caps Blog: Japers' Rink
Man, these games are getting so stressful to watch. I don't know how the rest of you felt, but I was terrified that entire 3rd period last night. And now we have more hockey to watch tonight? Yikes. I'm not sure my heart can take it.
Today's game is big in so many ways. The obvious reason is that the Red Wings badly need the two points. It's also our game-in-hand on the Bruins. If we lose this one, goodbye Atlantic... hello wild card. The Capitals aren't going to just lay down by any means. They're much more secure in a playoff spot, but they have a chance to catch Islanders for home ice in the 2 vs 3 Metro matchup. Washington failed to do us a solid and beat the Senators last night, so clearly we should expect Alex Ovechkin to score 4 goals in this game. I expect that same lineup from the Wings today that they iced last night. Only difference should be Petr Mrazek getting the starting nod in net.
If you're scoreboard watching... Go Flyers and Maple Leafs. I'll gladly take all the help we can get.
The Expected Lineups (Subject to Change)
Forwards
| Gustav Nyquist | Henrik Zetterberg | Justin Abdelkader |
| Darren Helm | Pavel Datsyuk | Tomas Tatar |
| Stephen Weiss | Riley Sheahan | Teemu Pulkkinen |
| Drew Miller | Luke Glendening | Joakim Andersson |
Defensemen
| Niklas Kronwall | Jonathan Ericsson |
| Kyle Quincey | Danny DeKeyser |
| Brendan Smith | Marek Zidlicky |
Goaltenders
| Petr Mrazek |
| Jimmy Howard |
Scratches: Daniel Cleary & Jakub Kindl
Injuries: Erik Cole (upper body), Tomas Jurco (upper body) & Johan Franzen (concussion)
Forwards
| Alex Ovechkin | Evgeny Kuznetsov | Joel Ward |
| Marcus Johansson | Nicklas Backstrom | Troy Brouwer |
| Curtis Glencross | Eric Fehr | Jason Chimera |
| Brooks Laich | Michael Latta | Tom Wilson |
Defensemen
| Brooks Orpik | John Carlson |
| Karl Alzner | Matt Niskanen |
| Tim Gleason | Mike Green |
Goaltenders
| Braden Holtby |
| Justin Peters |
| CAPITALS | THE MATCHUP | RED WINGS |
| 43-25-11 (97 pts; 3rd in Metro) | Record | 41-24-13 (95 pts; 3rd in Atlantic) |
| 2.91 (6th in NHL) | Goals Per Game | 2.85 (8th in NHL) |
| 2.46 (8th) | Goals Against Per Game | 2.60 (17th) |
| 25.2% (1st) | Power Play % | 24.1% (2nd) |
| 81.3% (14th) | Penalty Kill % | 80.9% (18th) |
| Alex Ovechkin (52 goals) | Goal Leader | Tomas Tatar (28 goals) |
| Alex Ovechkin (79 points) | Points Leader | Henrik Zetterberg (62 points) |
- The Red Wings are 47-41-16-2 (W-L-T-OTL) all-time in the regular season against the Washington Capitals./
- Last 10 Games: Washington 7-2-1, Detroit 3-5-2/
- Mrazek is 0-1-0 in his career against the Caps. He gave up 2 goals on 14 shots after Howard left the game with injury./