Capitals go for clean sweep this afternoon

10/16/08: Capitals 4 – Penguins 3

1/14/09: Capitals 6 – Penguins 3

2/22/09: Capitals 5 – Penguins 2

“We’re emotional guys, and we play hard, and when we have something on our mind and we want to say something, we say it,” Ovechkin said today. “I don’t want to say he talks too much but he’s talking.”

“A lot of things happen on the ice, and that’s where they need to stay. But there’s a certain point, too, a certain respect level.”

A win this afternoon will be the Capitals first sweep against the Penguins in team history. Washington went 6-0-1 vs. Pittsburgh in 1984-85.

The Capitals are 4-1-1 against the Penguins since Bruce Boudreau was named head coach in November of 2007 and 3-0 against the Penguins this season. In the Capitals 8 games against Pittsburgh prior to the Boudreau hiring, the Capitals were 1-7 against the Penguins.

Current Streaks

Pittsburgh (34-26-6-74pts) is currently on a 5 game winning (4-0 on the road. Washington (40-21-5-85pts) are in the midst of a three game losing streak. Big game for both teams. Washington (3rd seed) are two points behind the Devils for the #2 seed in the Eastern Conference. Pittsburgh fell back to the 9th spot last night after Carolina beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 9-3.

Kunitz – Crosby – Guerin

Fedotenko – Malkin – Sykora/Dupuis

Cooke – Staal – Kennedy

Dupuis/Sykora – Talbot – Adams/Godard

Orpik – Gonchar

Gill – Scuderi

Eaton – Letang

* Petr Sykora skated on the 4th line yesterday in practice. The team is saying he is suffering from a upper body injury. He will be a game-time decision and I will try to get some info around 1:00 p.m. when some of my sources arrive at the game.

PIT:  Petr Sykora Рgame time-decision

WAS: Michael Nylander – Out (shoulder injury)