Christian Djoos will make his long-awaited NHL debut tonight against our friends from Pittsburgh. The move bumps Aaron Ness over the right side, and Taylor Chorney to the press box where he belongs. Also slotting in tonight is Tyler Graovac, who will exempt Nathan Walker from the lineup.
Tonight's matchup pits the Washington Capitals against their archrival Pittsburgh Penguins in the first game since yet another disappointing finish in DC. Pittsburgh, having played about a thousand games during their two year run on top of the league, is worn out, and playing back-to-back to start the year, the team showed fatigue. They followed the 10-1 shellacking by Chicago (hehehehehe) with a 4-0 donut over Nashville. Now they come to town looking to rub their Cup win in the Capitals faces yet again (oh God why?!).
Here are three bold predictions for tonight's match:
1. The Capitals will win handily
New look or not, this Washington squad hates Pittsburgh. Alex Ovechkin is sick of being embarrassed and one-upped by Sidney Crosby. Losing record in the head-to-head aside, Ovechkin is on fire and passion is always good when batting above your weight.
2. A defenseman will score for the Capitals
Last season's defense corps accounted for 29 of the team's 261 goals scored, or 11.1%. To date in this young season, the blueline has laid an egg. Tonight this changes; a defenseman will dent the twine for the good guys in red.
3. The Capitals special teams will continue to shine
Before allowing the deciding goal in overtime, the Capitals had killed off 13 consecutive penalties to start the season. The powerplay is operating at a similar clip, reaching paydirt on one third of its opportunities. Both trends should continue tonight, with Holtby back in goal to shore up the PK, and an undisciplined Penguins squad certain to make mistakes.
Tonight's matchup pits the Washington Capitals against their archrival Pittsburgh Penguins in the first game since yet another disappointing finish in DC. Pittsburgh, having played about a thousand games during their two year run on top of the league, is worn out, and playing back-to-back to start the year, the team showed fatigue. They followed the 10-1 shellacking by Chicago (hehehehehe) with a 4-0 donut over Nashville. Now they come to town looking to rub their Cup win in the Capitals faces yet again (oh God why?!).
Here are three bold predictions for tonight's match:
1. The Capitals will win handily
New look or not, this Washington squad hates Pittsburgh. Alex Ovechkin is sick of being embarrassed and one-upped by Sidney Crosby. Losing record in the head-to-head aside, Ovechkin is on fire and passion is always good when batting above your weight.
2. A defenseman will score for the Capitals
Last season's defense corps accounted for 29 of the team's 261 goals scored, or 11.1%. To date in this young season, the blueline has laid an egg. Tonight this changes; a defenseman will dent the twine for the good guys in red.
3. The Capitals special teams will continue to shine
Before allowing the deciding goal in overtime, the Capitals had killed off 13 consecutive penalties to start the season. The powerplay is operating at a similar clip, reaching paydirt on one third of its opportunities. Both trends should continue tonight, with Holtby back in goal to shore up the PK, and an undisciplined Penguins squad certain to make mistakes.
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