Capitals-Lightning: One Team Hopes for a New Beginning for the New Year

Tonight’s match-up between the Washington Capitals and Tampa Bay Lightning features two teams heading in different directions.

The Washington Capitals (24-11-3 51 points) are relishing in the limelight and stand atop their division with a ten- point lead over second place Carolina Hurricanes.

The good guys in red have not seen their divisional opponents very often this season.

They have played only seven of their first 38 games against their Southeastern foes, posting a 4-3 record.

But 2009 starts a whole new ball game for the smokin’ hot Caps.

The end of the 2008-2009 season has the Capitals finishing out 10 of their final 13 games facing teams within their division.

Tampa Bay (10-16-10) have yet to defeat the Capitals and are hoping to change their luck in this second meeting.

These two tussled back on Nov. 10, which featured longtime Capital and fan favorite Olaf Kolzig’s return to Washington DC since being benched in last year’s playoffs. (Current Chicago Blackhawks goalie Cristobal Huet supplanted “Olie” as the starter ending his reign after a 20-year run in net)

In that game Kolzig came up on the losing side of the ice, and dropped a 4-2 decision also played at the Verizon Center.

The Caps won’t face another divisional opponent until they host the Florida Panthers on February 7 so they will want to send a message to the other teams that they are the real deal.

A victory this evening will do just that for this high flying hockey team.

Winners of nine out of their last 10 games, the Caps have tallied six straight wins on home ice.

They have the NHL’s best home record which stands at a dominant 15-1-1.

They are basking in their early season success, and doing so with constant changes in the lineup.

Around Thanksgiving, Coach Bruce Boudreau had as many as eight players go down with minor to moderate injuries.

Two Russian assassins continue to miss crucial ice time as they struggle to stay healthy.

Alexander Semin (back) has missed significant work and remains on day-to-day on the injury report.

Sergei Federov (ankle) tried to come back too soon, and also is day-to-day.

Thank heavens for the depth that the Capitals have in the form of their AHL team, the Hershey Bears.

Almost every week the Caps have been forced to call up players to fill roster spots, as one guy has gone down after another.

Rookie defensemen Karl Alzner appears to be the mainstay on the Capitals blue line and has quickly garnered the attention of his coach.

He is plus-8 in his last 12 games and has yet to be penalized in 16 career games.

Goalie Jose Theodore (31 saves in his last start in Tuesday’s game at Buffalo) is most likely to be in net as he is taking the shots while netminder Brent Johnson nurses a hip flexor injury.

In contrast to the Capitals impressive first half storyline, things in Tampa Bay have certainly gone cold.

Barry Melrose (5-7-4) was fired after 16 games behind the bench for the Lightning.

He was replaced by ex-Capital Rick Tocchet who has not fared much better in his short tenure.

Tampa Bay has registered a 5-9-6 record in 22 games under Tocchet’s tutelage.

They are coming off a tough 2-1 shootout loss suffered against the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday night.

However, they are riding a three-game winning streak and would love to grind the Capitals’ groove into the ground.

Mike Smith has been in goal for Tampa Bay in 15 of their 16 games.

He is 3-0-1 with a shutout, 1.94 goals against average and .922 save percentage in his last four starts.

Smith’s overall .923 save percentage ranks him seventh in the league.

The Lightning allow 33.2 shots per game, so if he can silence the crazy Capitals faithful with strong net play, Tampa has a chance to ruin the first day of 2009 for their scrappy rivals.

Prediction:   Capitals-4   Lightning-3

The Skinny:

Five members of the Lightning—Steve Eminger, Jeff Halpern (Potomac, Maryland), Jamie Heward, Olie Kolzig, and Matt Pettinger, are former Capitals.

During their days in DC, they played in a combined total of 24 games on New Year’s Day.

Alex Ovechkin heads the list of many current Capitals who have turned in solid performances against Tampa Bay.

He has 15 goals and 29 assists in 25 career games to lead the pack.