Thursday, November 1, 2007

Washington Capitals at New York Rangers

I can't help but think of the heady feeling we all had when the Caps last made their way onto the Madison Square Garden ice (if you can call it "ice"... I think a gravel driveway is more like ice than the MSG sheet). Things aren't looking quite as great as they were a few weeks ago, but coming off of a solid rout of the Leafs on Monday with a crippled lineup, they ain't looking all that bad either as the Capitals (5-6-0, 10 pts, 3rd SE) prepare once again to take on the Rangers (4-6-1, 9 pts, 4th AT) in downtown Manhattan.

Both teams have two wins in their last seven attempts and are both coming off of Monday wins (the Rangers beat the Lightning 3-1). The Capitals do look a bit better offensively, with six players registering five or more points thus far, to the Rangers' four, and have only one player - Donnie B - who has yet to score a point, to the Rangers' six.

I know, I know... Stats don't mean a whole heck of a lot, but I'm forced to nitpick because these two teams appear to be very similar as far as their performance so far this season goes. The Caps' offensive stats look better than those of the Rangers, but I'm sure more than just a little bit of that can be credited to Monday's seven goal affair north of the border.

The verdict? This one's a tossup. Start chilling your beer.

Oh, and it should also be noted that Sean Avery will be making his return to the lineup tonight, after having been injured in the second game of the season. What a treat.