And he prays!!!
Rangers against the Washington Capitals.
The last time these two teams met was back in December 12th when the Rangers routed the Caps 7-0. Also, that was in the midst of the 24/7 HBO series filming, so anyone who gets that channel got to relive the magic all over again in all its profane glory. But tonight will be different from the last time these two teams met. The Rangers have only won two of their last five games. Also, in those five games, a nice hand-full of players went down with injuries. The Rangers lost Brandon Dubinsky, Ruslan Fedotenko, and Dan Girardi amongst those games, and have called up players from Connecticut to try and plug the holes. Tonight the Rangers will see the return of Michael Del Zotto, who was sent down to get himself settled from his erratic play earlier this season. Also, Martin Biron will be in net tonight in Washington to rest Henrik Lundqvist for tomorrow nights game at home against Florida.
The Capitals will also have their backup goalie, Braden Hotlby in net tonight. Aside from that, the Caps have been playing well as of late. Alex Ovechkin tallied a hat trick against Toronto in the Capitals' last game, and has been heating up going into the second half of the season. One of the downsides to this Capitals team though is that they've lost eight games in overtime or the shootout, which is the second most in the league. That being said, the Rangers are 4-1 in the shootout. Meaning, if this game tonight goes into extra time, the Caps may be in a bit of trouble.
My Diagnosis
The Rangers are heavily depleted on the injury front, but still have managed to hold on by the skin of their teeth. However, this is a different Capitals team since the last time they versed them. Also, with the loss of some players, the scoring for the Rangers has thinned out. In all, I believe the Rangers will be able to pull this one out, but it will be way more difficult then it was last December.
My Predictions
Rangers win 3-2
Marian Gaborik will get the first goal for the Rangers late in the 1st.
Brian Boyle will get the Rangers' second goal in the 2nd period.
Alex Ovechkin will get one for the Caps also in the 2nd.
John Erskine will get the second goal for the Caps to tie the game in the 3rd.
And finally, Marc Staal will pick up the game winning goal in overtime.
Enjoy the game!
No comments:
Post a Comment