Same Team, Same Result

The last time the Capitals and the Panthers faced off at the Verizon Center, the result was a Caps smashing of the Cats. To be more specific it was a well played 5-0 game. The Panthers happened to out shoot the home squad 27-25 but the difference was Jose Theodore, or as Caps fans have come to know him, Jose Three-Or-Four. Jose got pulled in the 3rd period after surrendering five goals on 21 shots.

That may be the biggest reason the backup net minder for Florida, Scott Clemmensen, will play tonight.

Ovechkin and Clemmensen have met before

Although he may have shut the Caps out with four saves in his 10 minutes of playing time (can't help but laugh when writing that, but thats the point) in the last matchup after Theodore was pulled, Clemmensen, the Des Moines, Iowa native, isn't anything to fear. So far this year he is 0-1-1 with a 3.77 GAA and a mere .853 save % in four appearances. When the Caps started the season 1-5-1 their struggling goalies were still putting up better stats. In his career, Clemmensen is 64-46-21 with a 2.66 goals against average and a .909 save %. That's nothing to brag about.

The Caps continue to be a basement dweller in goals per game while averaging 2.50 goals per game. They are in the same category in the goals against category by giving up 3.42 goals a game.

My point? This is a great opportunity to boost those stats again after defeating this exact same Panthers team (minus Jose Three-Or-Four obviously) 5-0. The Caps need to build off that trouncing and end with something similar tonight. Clemmensen won't typically be a daunting foe in net. This is an awesome opportunity to also grab the Caps first win on road as they are currently 0-4-1 on the road this season. That OTL coming in New Jersey.

The Caps need to pounce on the Cats right off the face-off as they should have the mental advantage over the Panthers. Florida can't even say they were more physical then the Caps in the last game because John Erskine took a bigger George Parros down in a fight early in the last matchup. A slight mismatched win for Erskine seemed to spark the Caps and that is exactly what he does best.

Until Next Time,
Will