Bruins vs. Caps: Stuff To Look Out For

You seriously need me to tell you anything about this game that you don't already know?

#1 Bruins vs. #2 Caps: essentially a 2-game standings boost in favor of the winner.

Ovechkin vs. Thomas: Three days ago they combined to win the All-Star game shootout. Thomas stopped Ovechkin in the Elimination shootout, but AO8 won the trick-shot competition.

Here comes the cavalry: Patrice Bergeron, Milan Lucic and Andrew Ference are all back tonight. Other than rust, this should be pretty close to a full-strength game for the Bruins (who are still going to miss Kessel for a while). It's the closest thing to an even matchup that we've seen between these teams so far, as injuries were a major factor in the first two matchups.

Rask in the house: Manny Fernandez's "general soreness" is turning into "general unavailability", so Tuukka Rask is on the bench for the Bruins. If, for whatever reason, he ends up playing in this game it has the potential to be a watershed moment for the franchise.

Super sophomores: Nicklas Backstrom and David Krecji are probably the two best second-year players in the league at present. They might actually be matched up against each other, so keep an eye on that one.

Don't get attached: Kevin Paul Dupont reports that Chiarelli will be making at least a move or two before the trade deadline. Last season, that would have sounded like typical rumor-mongering by the press. This season, it's practically a stone-cold guarantee as the Bruins look prepared for a multi-round playoff run. The Bruins are practically obligated to ditch any remaining spare parts and make a try for firesale items (Nik Antropov's name has surfaced repeatedly).

The most important thing to watch: The absolutely amazing hockey that these teams are playing. Matchups this awesome are fairly rare in the regular season -- enjoy!

Bruins vs. Caps: Stuff To Look Out For

This game doesn't really need any extra hype. Boston and Washington are not only on top of the Eastern standings, they're playing the best hockey in the conference of late -- only Montreal, which beat the Caps and fell to the B's in the past week, seems to be in the same stratosphere.

From a Bruins perspective, there's a bit of nervousness about this game. The Caps trail by 11 points in the conference and have played one more game than Boston, but they're coming off a convincing win over arch-nemesis Pittsburgh. Washington dealt with some awful injury problems early in the season, but it's the Bruins who are at a disadvantage in this game. Furthermore, the teams meet again in a week so this will be a statement game for the Caps -- at just the wrong time for a Bruins team that's trying to keep the ship steady through the worst of the injury bug.

Injury report: Nothing has changed -- Milan Lucic will not play against the Caps, and Aaron Ward will be out for at least a week. The Bruins will continue to lean on AHL callups to provide depth scoring and decent defense.
Meanwhile, the Caps will be without at least two defensemen in Tom Poti and Brian Pothier. Blueliner Shaone Morrisonn is expected to play. Center Boyd Gordon will be a game-time decision.

Goaltending matchup: Fluto says to expect the Tank to make his fourth consecutive start -- perhaps the reward for his 40-save performance against the Isles last night. I suspect the Caps will hand the keys to Jose Theodore, who's started 5 of the last 6, though it wouldn't be a shock if they went with Brent Johnson who beat the Bruins last time around.

Divisional realignment: Caps fans are beginning to make serious pleas for a relocation to the Atlantic Division. They have a point -- their rivalries with the Pens and Flyers have become much more significant of late, and Ovechkin needs to be on the Madison Square Garden marquee as often as possible. Unfortunately, the Southeast Division is already so weak that it's hard to imagine a world in which they aren't buoyed by the Caps. BUT... if the Isles are indeed prepared to move westward, keep an eye on this possibility.

Home cookin': Only the Sharks and Bruins (by virtue of 1 fewer game played) have a better home record than Washington. What was once an echo chamber has become a nasty road destination, as the Bruins found out on 12/10 -- the last time they lost a road game.

Who to watch: The Wheeler-Krejci-Ryder line. Shut out against the Isles, these guys can't afford to have an off night against the Caps. Look for Julien to put them in a position to get quality chances as often as possible.

Bruins vs. Caps: Stuff To Look Out For

Tonight there is a marquee matchup in both conferences: Boston (#1) vs Washington (#3) in the East, and Detroit (#2) vs. Calgary (#4) in the West. One gets the sense that all of these teams will wake up tomorrow with a slightly different sense of self, depending on how these games go. Fans with access to the NHL Center Ice broadcasts will be able to watch the landscape changing before their very eyes -- what a great time to be a hockey fan.

Washington is happy to host this game, because they are far better at the Verizon Center (10-1-1) than anywhere else (5-9-2). I am always suspicious of teams that play a completely different game in one building than they do elsewhere. I am also suspicious of any team which is leading its division with the 6th-best record in the conference. The Caps are a talented team, to be sure -- but they're also one of the streakiest in the league.

Things to watch for tonight:

To make things uncomplicated, you can just stare at Alex Ovechkin the whole time. Chances are, all the interesting stuff will involve him anyway.

This game will feature two of the East's three best power-play units. The Bruins penalty-kill is slightly uncertain, pending news on whether Stephane Yelle plays tonight. If not, Julien is apparently considering Phil Kessel to be PK material these days (the most unlikeliest of turns), which should be a huge red flag to the Caps defensemen to keep an eye out for shorthanded rushes. Meanwhile, the Caps are missing power-play stalwarts Mike Green (6 ppg from the blue line) and Alex Semin (6 of 27 points on the PP), and former Selke winner Sergei Fedorov. Fedorov is one of those great two-way players whose absence will be felt in every part of the game.

The Caps have a slew of other injured players, frankly too many to list or try to keep track of. Suffice it to say: they are playing with about half their normal quality players. The Bruins are still waiting on good news from Marco Sturm or Aaron Ward, whose replacements (Nokelainen and Lashoff, respectively) have been more or less silent.

RUMOR ALERT: Semin apparently took part in a closed morning skate and was upgraded to a game-time decision. Bruce Boudreau is a smart coach and might bring Semin in for limited action in this key game.

The goaltending matchup is slated to be Manny Fernandez vs. Brent Johnson. Manny's start confirms that we are back to a 1A/1B rotation, an extremely impressive feat on his part and a testament to Julien's fairmindedness in handling the Bruins' goalie (non)controversy this season. Johnson is one of those guys who you know is good, who can beat you any night, but you just don't think about when someone asks you to name the top 30 goalies in the league.

TIDBIT: Fernandez' 7-game winning streak is the longest for a Boston goalie since.... wait for it.... Jon Casey. Half the Bruins couldn't even walk when Casey was a B-list starter for the Bruins.

Things got a little heated last season, when these teams were in fierce contention for a playoff berth. Both lost in the first round, but took a big step toward legitimacy in the process. Both are still using each other as measuring sticks, but now from the other end of the playoff bracket. Expect this one to be feisty and fast-paced, and to make some waves in the power rankings.