Tuesday, January 29, 2008

...And Down the Stretch They Come

The All-Star break has come and passed, leaving 32 games for the Capitals to stake their claim to a playoff spot. It won't come easily as the Eastern Conference is clogged with tightly packed teams all vying for playoff position.

With the trading deadline less than a month away, no team has established itself as a buyer or seller -- meaning every team will do their best to avoid becoming the latter, making it a difficult road ahead. The Capitals journey will take them through every Eastern Conference team except for Ottawa (unfortunately.) The road begins tonight in Montreal against a Canadiens team that is second in the conference, only six points behind those slumping Senators.

Tonight also marks Alex Ovechkin's first appearance in Montreal since signing his new deal and thusly dashing the hopes of every French-Canadian that the superstar would soon be wearing the bleu, blanc, et rouge. I'm expecting to hear the boo birds loud and strong, and Ovie loves every minute of it.

In what appears to be a sign that Bruce Boudreau has finally lost confidence in Olie Kolzig's ability to carry this team to and through the playoffs, Brent Johnson, who has never beaten the Canadiens, will get the start opposite Cristobal Huet. Johnson, despite sparkling numbers as of late, has lost both of his career starts against the Habs while posting a 3.50 GAA and .875 save percentage (curiously Olie-like numbers.)

The Capitals responded to an early season home loss to the Canadiens with a 5-4 ovetime win in Montreal earlier this month.  That win, however, came against Carey Price who played poorly in what turned out to be his last NHL appearance before being reassigned to Hamilton of the AHL. Since that game, the Canadiens have lost only twice in eight outings -- as has Washington.

Tonight's netminder, Huet, was spectacular in the Habs earlier win over the Caps -- a game in which he stopped 35 shots en route to a 5-2 victory in which he severely outplayed Olie Kolzig who made just 16 stops.

The Capitals, who find themselves only three points out of the 8th spot in the East, will be keeping a close eye on the scoreboard tonight as the Carolina Hurricanes host the New York Rangers. A Caps win and Hurricanes loss will move Washington into sole possession of first place in the Southeast Division for the first time since starting the season 3-0.

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