Wed, 04/04/2007 - 3:00pm

Tonight the Washington Capitals are on the road for the final time in the 2006-2007 season. The Caps are skating in Atlanta tonight against their Southeast Division rivals, the Atlanta Thrashers. The Capitals eliminated the Thrashers from playoff contention this time last year; however with a win tonight Atlanta can clinch its first division title in franchise history.

The Caps are coming off of a very impressive win on Tuesday night at home against the Florida Panthers. The Capitals picked up their first shutout win of the season thanks to the great goaltending of Ollie Kolzig. Kolzig stopped the puck 27 times last night and looked stellar picking up his first shut out since February 2004, but it wasn’t just Kolzig who stepped up last night it was the entire team. The Caps took only two penalties the entire game and none in the third period. The Caps defense was all over the puck and didn’t make mental mistakes. The play of the forwards was also something to brag about; Alex Ovechkin netted a beautiful one-timer via Brooks Laich’s crisp pass for his 44th goal of the season. The youngest team in the NHL looked like a mature hockey team that knew how to protect its one goal lead with great defensive minded work. The one negative in last nights 1-0 win over the Panthers is Alexander Semin was injured late in the second period, he has a foot injury and is listed as day to day. With a win tonight in Atlanta the Caps would match last seasons point total (70). The Caps will probably go with back up Brent Johnson in net tonight.

The Atlanta Thrashers come into tonight’s game well rested with their eyes on the prize. The Thrashers recently clinched their first ever playoff birth, but for Thrashers fans there is a bigger pot of gold waiting for them if the Thrashers can win tonight. Atlanta is currently one point ahead of the Tampa Bay Lightning for 1st place in the Southeast, and the fans in Atlanta are muttering a playoff birth is nice but a division title is better. The Thrashers last game was back on March 31 when they visited Boston and left with a narrow 3-2 win. With just 19 seconds left in the third period Keith Tkachuk scored for the Thrashers and gave Atlanta the win in dramatic fashion. The Thrashers are well rested and will have goaltender Kari Lehtonen between the pipes tonight, Lehtonen is 6-0-2 in his career against Washington.

The Capitals are 2-3-2 this season against the Atlanta Thrashers. The last time these two teams played was March 12, 2007; Atlanta won 4-2 in Atlanta.

Sharifi’s Face-Off Facts:

Expect Phillips Arena to be loud and rocking as the Thrashers look to clinch the Southeast Division for the first time ever.

Alex Ovechkin needs just four points to reach 200 for his career and tonight he is facing the team he's scored the most points against this season. In seven games versus Atlanta, Ovechkin has 12 points, including seven goals. Look for Ovechkin to try and light things up early in tonight’s contest.

The Caps snapped their six game losing streak (0-5-1) with a win last night at home against Florida. Tonight the Caps look to stop a lengthy road losing streak, Washington has dropped nine straight (0-7-2) on the road.

About the author
Kevin Sharifi is currently a student at Catholic University and can be reached at 61SHARIFI@cua.edu .

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