12/28/11 Rangers vs. Washington Capitals

I said... reading is good... can we start the story now, Miss Lippy?

Rangers against the Washington Capitals.

This will be the second time these two teams meet each other as the Rangers and Capitals find themselves in reverse roles form last season. The Rangers have won their last five in-a-row and are looking to extend that streak over the team that eliminated them from competition last year. The Rangers took the first game between these two clubs, by the score of 6-3. As of lately, they have been performing at a higher level no one could have imagined. Marian Gaborik leads the league with 22 goals, and he has scored seven of those goals in his last five games. Along with that, surprise Carl Hagelin has stepped up to fill in at some key times for the Rangers to keep them in games. One can really see how this team is actually playing like a "team", if I can be so cliche about it. Everyone is carrying their own share of the slack, and in the process, the Rangers have been able to win long stretches of games in-a-row. Now they sit atop the Eastern Conference with 48 points, while the Capitals, find themselves looking for answers in this confusing season they've had so far.



The Caps have gone through a few changes. Bruce Boudreau is now in Anaheim, and Dale Hunter has taken over behind the bench. Currently, the Caps are outside of the top eight teams in the Eastern Conference, but out of every team that is in that position, I believe the Caps are the team that has the strongest chance to right the ship come the end of the season. This isn't the ideal season the Caps planned top have, but their talent is too good to deny that they are not a sleeper.

The Diagnosis


It may start sounding like a broken record on these game posts, but the Rangers need some real fire if they want to come out tonight and win this game in Washington. That has been the key of their recent wins, and it will haver to be more prevalent today than in their past five games. Inter-conference wins are always a boost for a team, especially one that could be a potential playoff opponent, so the Rangers will need their A-game once again if they plan to come out on top tonight against Washington.

The Prediction


Capitals win 3-2 in the shootout.

Brad Richards and Derek Stepan will have the Rangers goals.
Alex Ovechkin and Jason Chimera will have the Capitals goals.

Enjoy the game!