Washington Capitals Hockey
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Kolzig Looks to Match Richter
After leading the Washington Capitals to victory over
the Calgary Flames, his 300th of his career, Olie Kolzig looks to tie
Mike Richter for 22nd on the all-time list. More important than
Kolzig's individual achievement is Washington's need for another win.
The playoffs have become a bit of a pipe dream after the
Capitals hit a rough patch at the same time that Carolina caught fire.
The Hurricanes, incidentally, visit Buffalo to take on the Sabres. Is
it possible for neither team to get a point? The Sabres sit one point
ahead of the Caps and four points out of the eighth seed. And we all
know about the 'Canes.
But closer to home, the only thing the Capitals can
control is how they play against the Atlanta Thrashers tonight. The
Thrashers are coming off an emotionally charged victory, recovering
from a 3-0 deficit to defeat the Calgary Flames with help from an Ilya
Kovalchuk hat trick. It was Kovalchuk's first multi-goal game in 31
games, a feat he achieved six times in the previous 38 contests.
This is the first time the Capitals will see Atlanta
since they traded Marian Hossa to the Pittsburgh Penguins. The pieces
received in return for Hossa, Erik Christensen and Colby Armstrong,
have combined for 5 goals and 5 assists in 8 games with Atlanta. The
Thrash, however, have won only twice since the move, the only two wins
in their last 12 games altogether. At nine points back with
only ten games to play, the Thrashers' playoff hopes have dwindled
while the Capitals are hanging on for dear life.
With the Capitals clearly playing with more on the line,
they need to come out with more fire than they did against Calgary
(when they were outshot 17-8 in the first.) The Caps also need to play
the final 40 minutes as they did against Calgary. Atlanta certainly
did last night against those same Flames.
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