Thursday, December 23, 2010

Game #36 - at Washington Capitals

Game 36
Penguins (23-10-2, 48 points) at Capitals (20-12-4, 44 points)

Why does it matter?
This is the appetizer for the Winter Classic. It also is the first time these teams have played each other this year. The Caps, along with the Flyers, are the biggest rivals for the Pens.

What has been happening lately?
  • Pens - Two straight wins after two losses - it was a nice turnaround.
  • Capitals - The Caps finally won a few games, beating the Sens and Devils. No doubt they cursed their way through it.
Questions to be answered
  • Can the Pens keep the emotions under control? The hype for this game is extremely high - letting your emotions get the better of you will lead to power play chances for the Caps, which is always dangerous.
  • Who plays if Asham has to sit? Can the Pens afford Eric Godard in a game like this, or will they call up someone like Dustin Jeffrey to fill in for Asham?
  • Which power play will show up? The Pens have alternated multi-goal games and getting blanked for the previous five. In the pattern, the multi-goal game is up next. Let's hope it shows up.
Keys to the game
  • Keep Ovechkin quiet. He has just 12 goals on the season so far. You want to let him sleep as much as possible.
  • Keep your head on a swivel. You know that if Ovechkin isn't scoring, he's going to look to do other things, and that probably means taking a few runs at players. He doesn't seem to care who he runs either.
  • Sid and Geno - keep shooting the puck. Sid had no shots in the recent two losses. In the two wins since then? 8 shots each game.

No comments: