The Nashville Predators play host to the Washington Capitals tonight at Bridgestone Arena for Nashville's third preseason game. They've lost once to the Hurricanes and then beat them last night. The Capitals are 1-0 with a win against the Columbus Blue Jackets. The festivities here in Nashville start early, however, as Preds Fest kicks off at 10:00 a.m. with an open house and practice at Bridgestone Arena.
Both squads will ice fairly impressive rosters. Included for the Capitals are Nicklas Backstrom and Mike Green to go along with elite prospects Michal Neuvirth and Marcus Johansson. I don't think its a stretch to say that outside of Nashville, the Caps have the top farm system in the NHL. Besides Neuvirth, Dany Sabourin will be the other goalie for Washington.
Season debuts are in order for Matthew Lombardi, Shea Weber, Steve Sullivan and Colin Wilson. After the jump, we've got the lineups for both teams...
First, for the bad guys...
| NO. | POS. | PLAYER | HT | WT | BIRTHDATE |
| 3 | D | Tom Poti | 6-3 | 198 | 03/22/1977 |
| 4 | D | John Erskine | 6-4 | 224 | 06/26/1980 |
| 15 | F | Boyd Gordon | 6-1 | 201 | 10/19/1983 |
| 16 | F | Eric Fehr | 6-4 | 218 | 09/07/1985 |
| 19 | F | Nicklas Backstrom | 6-1 | 210 | 11/23/1987 |
| 20 | F | Keith Aucoin | 5-8 | 169 | 11/06/1978 |
| 21 | F | Brooks Laich | 6-2 | 200 | 06/23/1983 |
| 22 | F | Mike Knuble | 6-3 | 227 | 07/07/1972 |
| 23 | D | Lawrence Nycholat | 5-11 | 189 | 05/07/1979 |
| 24 | F | Brian Willsie | 6-1 | 193 | 03/16/1978 |
| 26 | F | Matt Hendricks | 6-0 | 208 | 06/17/1981 |
| 36 | F | Francois Bouchard | 6-1 | 197 | 04/26/1988 |
| 42 | F | Steve Pinizzotto | 6-1 | 197 | 04/26/1984 |
| 44 | D | Brian Fahey | 6-1 | 218 | 03/02/1981 |
| 50 | F | Cody Eakin | 6-0 | 190 | 05/24/1991 |
| 52 | D | Mike Green | 6-1 | 205 | 10/12/1985 |
| 55 | D | Jeff Schultz | 6-6 | 232 | 02/25/1986 |
| 75 | D | Grant McNeill | 6-2 | 220 | 05/08/1983 |
| 83 | F | Jay Beagle | 6-3 | 210 | 10/16/1985 |
| 89 | D | Tyler Sloan | 6-4 | 214 | 03/15/1981 |
| 90 | F | Marcus Johansson | 6-0 | 197 | 10/06/1990 |
| NO. | GOALTENDER | HT | WT | BIRTHDATE | |
| 30 | G | Michal Neuvirth | 6-1 | 203 | 03/23/1988 |
| 35 | G | Dany Sabourin | 6-4 | 208 | 09/20/1980 |
So, no Alex Ovechkin or Alexander Semin, but Mike Green should put on a show.
And for the Preds...
| NO. | POS. | PLAYER | HT | WT | BIRTHDATE |
| 2 | D | Aaron Johnson | 6-1 | 208 | 04/30/1983 |
| 3 | RW | Wade Belak | 6-5 | 222 | 07/03/1976 |
| 5 | C | Blake Geoffrion | 6-1 | 192 | 02/03/1988 |
| 6 | D | Shea Weber | 6-4 | 234 | 08/14/1985 |
| 9 | C | Marcel Goc | 6-1 | 202 | 08/24/1983 |
| 13 | C | Nick Spaling | 6-1 | 196 | 09/19/1988 |
| 15 | C | Matthew Lombardi | 5-11 | 195 | 03/18/1982 |
| 23 | D | Brett Palin | 6-2 | 203 | 06/23/1984 |
| 24 | RW | Matt Halischuk | 5-11 | 185 | 06/01/1988 |
| 26 | RW | Steve Sullivan | 5-8 | 161 | 07/06/1974 |
| 27 | RW | Patric Hornqvist | 5-11 | 188 | 01/01/1987 |
| 33 | C | Colin Wilson | 6-1 | 214 | 10/20/1989 |
| 38 | LW | Kelsey Wilson | 6-1 | 214 | 01/22/1986 |
| 49 | D | Ryan Ellis | 5-9 | 172 | 01/03/1991 |
| 52 | D | Alexander Sulzer | 6-1 | 204 | 05/30/1984 |
| 71 | RW | J.P. Dumont | 6-1 | 205 | 04/01/1978 |
| 74 | LW | Sergei Kostitsyn | 6-0 | 210 | 03/20/1987 |
| 77 | D | Ryan Parent | 6-3 | 198 | 03/17/1987 |
| NO. | GOALTENDER | HT | WT | BIRTHDATE | |
| 35 | Pekka Rinne | 6-5 | 207 | 11/03/1982 | |
| 39 | Anders Lindback | 6-6 | 205 | 05/03/1988 |
Be sure to check out SB Nation's Capitals' blog Japers' Rink for the opposition's coverage of tonight's game.
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