Thursday, January 1, 2015

Pregame Notes: 2015 Winter Classic Washington Capitals vs. Chicago Blackhawks

  Today will be a fun day as the two of the NHL's hottest teams face off in the 2015 Winter Classic. The Caps have home field at Nationals Park, but the Blackhawks are on a roll of late and will look to spoil the fun. Here is what the lines looked like in practice yesterday.




Forwards:

Ovechkin-Backstrom-Beagle
Johansson-Kuznetsov-Brouwer
Laich-Fehr-Ward
Chimera-Latta-Wilson


Defense and Goalies:

Schmidt-Carlson
Alzner-Niskanen
Hillen-Green

Holtby
Peters


Other Notes:

*Brooks Orpik was injured in the overtime loss to the Islanders but he will take the pregame skate today and will be a gametime decision. If he is healthy enough to play he will take his normall spot and Nate Schmidt will probably sit.

*Andre Burakovsky took rushes on the second line at practice yesterday but still expect Evgeny Kuznetsov to stay in his position.

*Braden Holtby will be in the cage, while the Blackhawks will go with Corey Crawford.

*I expect todays game to have a lot of energy and possibly some nervousness in the first 10 minutes or so of the first period. These players have been looking forward to this all season long.

*Note there has been problems with the sun glare on the ice. The game is slatted for 1 p.m but there is a  possibility that it is pushed back.

*The Blackhawks are one of the premiere franchises in the NHL, and with stars like Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews this will be a fun game to watch.

*The Caps have to focus and go for two points. Today will be fun but with the Rangers and Islanders playing well the Caps have to keep plugging away. Strong forcheck and traffic infront of Crawford is a must.

*Gametime 1 p.m on NBC

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