Preview: Capitals vs Rangers 2009

Records

Washington (2): 50-24-8 (108 pts) Home: 29-9-3 Away: 21-15-5
NY Rangers (7): 43-30-9 (95 pts) Home: 26-11-4 Away: 16-19-5

Head-to-Head

Nov 8, 2008 - WAS 3 NYR 1
Dec 23, 2008 - WAS 5 NYR 4 (OT)
Jan 3, 2009 - WAS 2 NYR 1
Feb 11, 2009 - WAS 4 NYR 5 (SO)
Washington won the season series 3-1.

Fights

Jan 3, 2009 - Chris Clark vs Wade Redden
Jan 3, 2009 - Alexander Semin vs Marc Staal
Feb 11, 2009 - Donald Brashear vs Colton Orr
Feb 11, 2009 - Matt Bradley vs Aaron Voros

Lineup

Goaltending: EDGE New York
Scoring: EDGE Washington
Defense: EDGE New York
Coaching: EDGE Washington
Grit: EDGE New York

Schedule

Wednesday, April 15, 7:00 p.m. (TSN)
Saturday, April 18, 1:00 p.m. (NBC, TSN)
Monday, April 20, 7:00 p.m. (VERSUS, TSN)
Wednesday, April 22, 7:00 p.m. (VERSUS, TSN)
*Friday, April 24, 7:00 p.m. (VERSUS, TSN)
*Sunday, April 26, 2:00 p.m. (NBC, TSN)
*Tuesday, April 28, TBD (VERSUS, TSN)

Prediction

It's time to see if Sasha Ovechkin & co. learned anything from last year's playoff disappointment. The Caps have plenty of offensive weapons, but the question mark comes in net. If Henrik Lundqvist can stand on his head and Jose Theodore continues to struggle, we may see an upset, but I'm still confident that Washington will score enough to negate any questions in goal.

John's Pick

The new-look Rangers held it together long enough to be able to make the postseason, but their stay should be short. Lundqvist is a fantastic goaltender, but the burden that the Blueshirts are asking him to carry is too much. He can only carry them so far. The Rangers don't have the scoring capability to hang with Ovechkin and company. This series could be a quick one. Caps in 5.

David's Pick

Simply winning enough games to hold on and make the playoffs will probably keep John Tortorella in New York. It'll also hold off any criticism about the Rangers re-acquiring Sean Avery (barring any crazy incident that may happen in this series). Even if Lundqvist out-performs Theodore, the Caps fire-power is just too much, from Mike Green to Ovechkin. I doubt we'll see Alexander Semin going ape on Marc Staal again either. Caps in 5.