Tuesday Mach 30, 2010
7:00 PM
Verizon Center
The Caps host the Ottawa Senators Tuesday night at the Fehr-izon center. This marks the fourth meeting between the two clubs, with Ottawa leading the season series 2-1.
The Caps locked up the Eastern Conference on Sunday night, despite being throttled by the Flames 5-3, with the Devil's loss to the Flyers. They are currently 27-5-4 at home this season, but come into Tuesday's matchup losers of two straight.
The Sens are 16-20-1 on the road this season and looked abysmal coming out of the Olympic break, but have been on a recent tear. They are winners of four in-a-row, including some key wins over Philadelphia and Buffalo, who are both looking to solidify their playoff positions. They are now in fifth place in the East and stand six points behind New Jersey and seven behind Buffalo for the lead in the North-East Division. The Sens are still in the hunt for the fourth seed and winning their division isn't out of their reach yet.
Tuesday's matchup will definitely be a must-win for Ottawa, who are looking to improve their playoff seeding. The Capitals need to come out with matched intensity, despite having the top seed in hand, if they hope to hold off the surging Sens and extend their points lead in the Presidents Trophy race. They currently lead San Jose by five points in the League standings.
Washington will again be without forwards Brooks Laich (face), Brendan Morrison (lower body), Boyd Gordon (back), and Scott Walker (knee). Mathieu Perreault, who scored his first NHL goal against Calgary Sunday afternoon, will likely get another night in the line-up due to the injuries.
Ottawa defenseman Anton Volchenkov is doubtful Tuesday night with a nagging undisclosed. (Good news for Ovechkin, who has struggled to get shots off against the big defenseman).
In goal, Ottawa's Brian Elliot will likely get the nod. He has been lights-out during the team's four-game win streak. During the four-game stretch, he has posted two shut-outs, holds a .965 save %, and has a GAA of 1, allowing only 4 goals in that span. His hot streak includes a 41 save effort in a 4-2 victory over division leading Buffalo on Friday.
Washington's situation in goal is slightly more convoluted. Theodore had been been playing solidly in net until his 1st period debacle against Calgary on Sunday, where he allowed three goals on just ten shots and was subsequently pulled. He had won his previous 7 starts and hadn't lost in regulation since January 12th.
Varlamov has been a little shaky since returning from injury. He's won just one game out of six starts since returning to action. Despite the losing record in the new-year, he has at times (including Sunday in Calgary and last week against Carolina) shown flashes of his early season form.
With Theo likely to be the number one going into the playoffs, it will be interesting to see whether Coach Boudreau starts him the majority of the remaining games to get a rhythm going, or whether he gives Varly a few more chances to regain his composure.
In all likelihood, I think Theodore will get the start against the Sens. Coach Boudreau has been known to quickly give a goaltender another start after a poor performance in order to recompose and I think he will want to give Theo his vote of confidence Tuesday night. However, Coach Boudreau has always been very secretive about naming his starter and has at times been unpredictable with who he puts between the pipes, so don't take my word on the starter as gospel just yet.
The Caps need to have a more focused start to Tuesday's matchup than they had Sunday. They face another team fighting to pick up as many of the remaining points left on their schedule as possible and will find themselves down early if they don't match Ottawa's intensity. The Caps need to make winning the Eastern Conference regular season title a catalyst that pushes them into the playoffs with great focus and rhythm and not get complacent going into the post-season. Just ask the Sharks, Banners are cool... But Cups are better.
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