Game #29 - at Washington Capitals

Pittsburgh Penguins (12-11-5, 29 pts) at Washington Capitals (13-10-6, 32 pts)

The Caps are one of the teams the Pens will have to get past if they want to continue their march towards the playoffs. What better way to help their cause than by earning two points while holding the Caps to NO points? I think it's about time for a win in regulation.

The Caps are somewhat similar to the Pens in that they're amazingly good when scoring four or more and amazingly bad when scoring three or less. When scoring four or more, their record is 12-1-0, and when scoring three or less, it is 1-9-6. The key to beating the Caps, therefore, is to keep them from putting up 4, which is something the Pens should be able to do - they've allowed more than three goals only three times in the past 10 games (and one of those was in a SO loss).

At the same time, the Pens need to keep the momentum they garnered on Saturday night against Atlanta. They need to have the same intensity and work ethic on a nightly basis. One thing is likely - the arena won't be nearly as crowded in Washington as it was in Atlanta - the Caps have drawn under 12,500 for four of their past six home games.

Caps Blog - Those Washington bloggers are on the ball! There are not one, but two game previews up on Caps blogs. On the Caps blog on the MVN network, Gregg Kramer warms my heart with tales of past Penguin success (though I'm not sure he's trying to make us feel better in Pittsburgh). Over at Jasper's rink, JP seems to think this is a "should win" for the Caps. Not sure I agree, but then, I wouldn't, would I?

I'm looking for another good road effort where the Pens don't allow a tying goal late in regulation.

Let's Go Pens!