Pregame Notes: Washington Capitals at. Ottawa Senators

 The Caps had a great start to their final road trip of the regular season with a 5-4 shootout win in Montreal. Tonight they are in Canada's capitol as they take on the Sens with a chance to clinch a playoff spot with a regulation win. Here is the lineup for tonight.


Forwards:

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

Defense and Goalies:

Orpik-Carlson
Alzner-Niskanen
Gleason-Green


Holtby
Peters


Other Notes:


*Alex Ovechkin is the new goal scoring king in Washington and it will be important for him to play well tonight. When OV plays well the team plays very well.

*Barry Trotz's juggling of the lines has worked beautifully has it seems like everyone is fitting into their spots. I would like to see Curtis Glencross get going again as he has been quiet the last few games. We will see if he can get going as he will be bumped up a line tonight.

*Tonight we might have a beauty of a goalie matchup as The "Holtbeast" takes on the "Hamburgler". Andrew Hammond has been unbelievable this season with a 16-1-1 record and a 1.80 GAA and a save percentage of  94%. However, Braden Holtby has had a great season for the Caps but still will be fun to watch this matchup in net.

*The Caps have to get traffic in front of Hammond, they did a good job at deflecting pucks a shooting with traffic against Carey Price on Thursday. They just need to put sustained pressure against him tonight to have a chance to win.

*The Caps have to do a better job watching for the defensemen that sneak into the play. The Canadians got 3 goals from defensemen on Thursday and the Sens have Erik Karlsson who is one of the best offensive defensemen in the NHL.

*The Hershey Bears lost Friday, getting shutout by the Norfolk Admirals 4-0.

*Overall tonight can be a great night. The Caps missed the playoffs last year and have wanted to get back. They are playing well right now and if they do get in can be a tough team to beat. Not only that but the Caps can remain in the hunt for 2nd place in the Metro with a win. Regardless of weather it's in regulation or beyond two points will help.


Gametime 7 p.m on CSN