Pre-Game: Game #9 Oilers vs. Capitals

Here is game #9, the game that Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has waited impatiently for, although with each passing game it seems more inevitable he'll be here all year. I'm pretty sure he'll be making the trip with the team to play game #10 in Colorado. The team defense continues to hold up as giving up only 2 goals against the vaunted Canucks team. They did give up 37 shots against but took the Canucks best punch and survived. They will likely have to do the same against the Capitals. The Capitals come into this game a perfect 7-0 and have scored 30 goals coming in. Thats over 4 goals a game. This will likely be the Oilers toughest test. Tom Renney must be tempted to tinker with the lines, considering a lot of players have yet to register a point. I would hold off on that. Eventually they will need some sort of 2nd line scoring, but you can't deny the Oilers are winning games and are doing it in a fashion that the other team has to give it everything it has. Sit tight Tom and keep rolling those 4 lines while getting the matchups you need. I'm not sure who is getting the start tonight, I'd start Dubnyk tonight, but I think Renney will choose Khabibulin. Khabibulin faced a lot of rubber against the Canucks and looked fatigued in the third period. We'll see how this goes.

Forwards Capitals
- The Capitals have 7 players with 2 or more goals, the Oilers have 4.
Defense Capitals
- The additions of Wideman and Hamrlik really shored up that backend.
Goaltending Oilers
- It's close. The Capitals have given up 14 in 7 while the Oilers have given up 14 in 8. The Oilers are going to need great goaltending to win this game.
Special Teams Capitals
- The weapons that the Capitals can throw out there is kinda gross to think about as an Oilers fan.
Coaching Oilers
- Line matchups, line matchups, line matchups.
Intangibles Oilers
- Washington hasn't played since Saturday so they might have some shaky legs early on. Whoever comes out and sets tempo will have a big advantage.

Oilers:
Hall-NugentHopkins-Eberle
Paajarvi-Belanger-Gagner
Smyth-Horcoff-Jones
Petrell-Lander-Eager

Smid-Gilbert
Peckham-Potter
Sutton-Barker

Khabibulin
Dubnyk

Capitals:
Ovechkin-Backstrom-Brouwer
Semin-Laich-Knuble
Chimera-Johansson-Ward
Hendricks-Perreault-Halpern

Green-Carlson
Alzner-Hamrlik
Wideman-Schultz

Vokoun
Neuvirth

Game Time: 7:30 PM MT @ Rexall Place on TSN.