I don’t know if I should watch it.

Caps affiliate that’s broadcasting the game is 642on DirecTV.

The Preds might break out of the scoring slump they’ve been in. The Caps are pretty horrible on the back end, and their best defensive player in general is David Steckel, who’s a center. The Caps are the 2nd worst defensive team in the league, and the Preds have the worst offense. Something has to give

I’d like to see a reunion of Arnott and Legwand and Sullivan and O’Reilly tonight. Maybe something like:

Legwand – Arnott – Dumont
Sullivan – O’Reilly – Hornqvist
Erat – Wilson – Ward
Jones – Goc – Smithson

I would hate to be Trotz and Peterson tonight having to work out the d-pairings…

Klein with a giveaway and bowled over by Ovechkin already…

is too much to handle.

Keeping someone within 15 feet of Ovechkin on the PP sounds like a good idea,

They’re out with Cal.

Tough play for Laakso, but he’s really got to play the body there.

A lack of discipline and a fluky bounce both allow arguably the best player in the league to score a pair, but the Preds were very effective creating chances off their controlled breakouts and didn’t seem to panic like they were earlier this week when the Caps D was pinching down against the breakout.

Belak appears to be benched and with good reason. Smithson magnified the situation by taking the cross-checking call in front of the net after we killed off Belak’s mistake. You cannot give the Caps back to back PP’s early in the game. Belak’s penalty was stupid, but it was being aggressive. Those calls are usually killed off. Smithson’s cross-check was stupid and unnecessary too, but that is the type of penalty that doesn’t normally get the kill.

Franson looks good through one period of action. Very poised with the puck, although in his own end he is glued to the front of the net. Bouillon very active yet again, making plays, keeping things alive, but getting into trouble when he tries to do too much. Suter and Weber seem to be on the ice just about every shift. They are playing together some, but mainly with different partners each shift. Laakso was the victim of a horribly unlucky bounce on the second goal, but he’s got to maintain inside position, especially on a bouncing puck against Ovechkin.

Like the offensive pressure we are getting. Need to take the puck to the net a little more and that will open up some room to the outside to work the cycle. Lines aren’t that much different, but appear to be playing with some pretty good chemistry early. Gotta bury one of those two SH breakaways early. That’s definitely gonna come back to hurt us, but alas we are still not out of this game.

Look for Washington to adjust to the ever changing Predators style (doing a good job making adjustments to the systems since I called them out on it Wednesday night). With a two-goal lead the Caps will become tighter defensively and look to pounce on turnovers by the Predators, but don’t expect them to drop back into full on clock kill mode, that is simply not their style…

The Preds need to come out with the same intensity level, mark Ovechkin whenever he is on the ice, and become a little less pickier with their shots. I thought that Ward had the best opportunity of the night thus far for the Preds when he backed away a little from the defense and unleashed a bullet on Varlamov just before the mid-way point of the period. On those long cycles, we have to find a way to get someone open somewhere in the slot to make a pass out to. Plenty of bodies heading to the net after every shot, that’s not the issue, but generating more high-quality opportunities at the net is what is going to lead to more opportunities to capitalize on some rebounds.

Next goal wins…

Pressure to the net…good shots…

but nice following you guys

Then took it to the Caps in the last third of the period…

Preds always struggle in the second period due to the long line change and our struggles breaking out of the zone cleanly. Losing faceoffs magnifies the situation and pins us deep in the zone. Ellis played great that period, making saves when he needed to and gobbling up any loose puck around him to break up the Caps offensive flow from time to time.

Great give and go by Goc and Hornqvist on the breakout sprung Hornqvist into the Caps end with speed, backed in the Caps D, and gave Weber the room he needed to jump up in the play as the Caps forwards went for a change and blast home our first of the night! Hornqvist has to get a little extra credit as well for following straight to the front of the net after making his drop pass making sure to take the Caps D with him and provide a little traffic for Varlamov to contend with.

Dumont on the second goal got that fluky bounce off the skate of the defender and caught Varlamov a little off-guard. Evened out the fluky bounce that lead to Ovechkin’s second goal in the first period, so all in all…I’ll take it!

Must do a better job in the faceoff circle in the third period, especially in the defensive end. Need to clean up breakouts and eliminate any unnecessary turnovers through the neutral zone. Guys seem to have a lot of energy tonight and they should – having not skated in two days. We must look to pressure the Caps D whenever we get the chance. We know that Washington skates like the wind on the offense, but where you’ll wear them down is in their own end.

Sets up for an exciting third period…

Can play a tight-checking game, but should also be able to take things the other way if the opportunity presents itself. Ward & Smithson can both win battles along the boards.

Have I missed something?

Ellis huge in the third. Great job by Goc stepping in on that final draw and winning it to stop any last chance…

1. 27
2. 26
3. 10

Definitely a much better effort than we’ve seen in at least a week.

He said that the Caps fans that threw their hats on the ice after he scored in the shootout can retrieve them after the game. First of all it wasn’t a real hat trick, and B, I never once thought about getting my hat back. Once that hat leaves your hand and hits the ice it becomes property of the Hockey Gods.