Washington Capitals
17-14-4 :: 37 points
VS
New Jersey Devils
18-12-3 :: 38 points
Well, its my first post to my new blog, and as luck would have it its on the Friday before Christmas, and wouldn't you know it, our friends from hell are in town tonight. I couldn't think of a better time to start my blog. I highly doubt those "friends" will be in any sort of holiday spirit, let alone a giving mood.
The Caps are are coming off of a disappointing loss to the Lightning Tuesday night at the Phone booth, and have been a little banged up of late, and could be without the services of quite a few of thier players. Hopefully, having a few days off before the Devils come to town just might help give them the lift they'll need. My only comment about Tuesdays game at VC is 20 minutes of decent/ good hockey, does NOT win 60 minute hockey games.
The Devils net minder, Martin Brodeur ( who complained to the NHL about Alexander Ovechkin's mirrored visor) will be receiving quite an odd kind of welcome from the Verizon Center faithful. It seems they ll be in a very, umm, REFLECTIVE mood this late December evening. The buzz on the Washington Capitals Message boards this week (aside from the woes of the Pittsburgh Penguins and their faithful) has been all about Mirrored Shades For Marty.
It basically came out of a sarcastic comment posted on the Caps boards a while back, that the fans should all wear mirrored sunglasses the next time Marty, and the Devils came to town. Well, the idea took hold like a lit match on a dried southern California mountain side, and has grown into quite the large joke / prank. Its proven quite a great way to bring us Caps fans together for some good old fashioned opposing team player razzing fun! Many posters, bloggers, and just regular old fans like me are getting in on the act too. Were not meeting at the normal spot to watch the Caps warm up, not for this game. Well be all crammed behind the Devils goal, all wearing mirrored shades. All in good fun! Seems some Devils fans however, don't really get the humor in it.
This should turn out to be a pretty exciting game, as both teams are about even in the standings, and are both trending well in their last 10:: Washington at 7-2-1, and New Jersey at 6-3-1. However, I might be tempted to give the Caps the slight advantage here The Caps at home are 7-4-4, while the Devils on the road are 7-9-1, and have lost 4 out of thier last 5 games.
The Devils are by far the more defencive of the two clubs, and that is reflected in the differential between the two clubs goals for, and goals against. The Caps, when firing on all cylinders, are a very dangerous club, and can beat any club in the league, no matter how good the opposing clubs defencive abilities are. Your variable there, as we saw this past Tuesday, is if the Caps are going to be firing on all cylinders. That is a VERY unpredictable thing, as evidenced by not showing up for two periods, to go down 4-1, and 5-2 at different points, only to come back strong in the third and make a game of it, losing 5-4 in regulation. It just isn't the Caps if there isn't some roller caoster like aspect to it now is it? LOL!
