Washington Capitals-Boston Bruins Preview

Two top teams in the NHL Eastern Conference meet tonight at Verizon Center: one suffering from the injury bug and the other dispatching opponents with relative ease.

The Boston Bruins (19-4-4) have won five games in a row, 14 out of their last 16, and have dropped just one game since October 30th.

Their domination has been staggering and they look to give the Washington Capitals their second home regulation loss of the season.

Thus far, the Capitals (15-10-3) have withstood the myriad injuries and growing pains of a young, patchwork defense, to carry an impressive record into tonight’s tussle in downtown DC.

The good guys in red are benefiting from the deep talent on their AHL affiliate team (the Hershey Bears), so much that Coach Bruce Boudreau quipped after Sunday’s 3-1 loss to Carolina, “It puts pressure on guys to get back when they see other guys having success."

“It makes them want to get back quicker. They know that we know we can call people up from Hershey.”

Washington is relying on pupils like second year defenseman Karl Alzner to speed up the learning process, as major injuries continue to pile up on the checking line.

Defenseman Mike Green (shoulder) is day-to-day and has not played since being ridden hard into the boards by Anaheim Ducks enforcer Chris Pronger.

Green still leads the team in powerplay goals with six, even though he hasn’t played in a month-and-half.

Also, the loss of forward Alexander Semin (back) has been a crucial hit to Washington’s ability to score consistently.

Before being sidelined, Semin had registered 27 points in 13 games played. Those stats are virtually impossible to replace with one man. 

The Capitals’ defense to their injury woes has been to get more shots on goal. That strategy did not pay off against divisional foe Carolina Sunday evening. Coach Boudreau saw his scrappy fighters outshoot Carolina in their last game 39-25, but came away with a late defeat due to breakdowns from his defensemen.

With a 10-1-2 record at home this season to protect, I doubt the Bruins are coming to DC looking to give out an early Christmas gift and bow down to the unfriendly elements of playing on the road.

Clearly they are finding life to be fruitful while wearing skates these days.

Wingman Phil Kessel leads Boston with 17 goals, and has tallied goals in six straight games, including one more against Tampa Bay on Monday. He has a point in 12 consecutive games, the longest current streak in the NHL.

However, he has no points in his last seven games versus Washington.

Bruins netminder Tim Thomas is second in the league with a 1.90 GAA. Since the Oct. 30th loss to Calgary, he is 8-1-1 with 1.86 GAA, and was like a stone wall against the Lightning, stopping 26 shots in the victory.

However, he was in net March third of last year when the Capitals unloaded a barrage of offense to the tune of a 10-2 home cooked victory.

Thomas was 4-0-0 in four career starts against Washington prior to that laughable experience.

The table is set for a whale of a time in the cold December rain. 

Set your stations folks to Comcast SportsNet and enjoy Joe Beninati and Craig Laughlin dish out the hockey talk in glorious hi-def.