The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!! -- Caps vs. Bruins, March 16th

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!!

Well, it’s getaway day -- the last game before a six-game road-trip, and the Caps are hosting the Boston Bruins, the third game between these non-divisional rivals in the past 13 days. This will be the rubber game of the match, the Caps slapping the Bruins all over the Verizon Center ice for a 10-2 win, then giving a game away in the last five minutes in a 2-1 loss in Boston…

“Uh, did you know that it’s a little known fact…the Bruins were originally dressed in black and yellow for the colors of a store?”

Cliffy!...you came all the way down from Boston for the game?

“Yeah…I thought I needed a vacation, and noting says ‘relax’ like hockey.”

Never thought of it that way, but about the Bruins and those jerseys...a store?

“Yeah…the owner, Charles Adams, wanted his team to wear the colors of the grocery stores he owned.”

You’re pullin’ my leg.

“No, no, not at all…and Adams wanted a mascot that suggested strength and power.”

So they setlled on “Bruins”…

“Well, no one thought about ‘Ovechkins’ yet.”

Good one…speaking of Bruin history, what about the Kraut Line? How did that come about?

“Well, it’s a little known fact that The Kraut Line was an eatery in Boston that served Irish fare. And the day before St. Patrick’s Day – I think it was in 1941 – the power went out, and all the food spoiled. So when the patrons arrived the next day for a steaming order of corned beef and cabbage, the cabbage had gone sour, and the line of customers out the door would forever more be referred to as the, uh…’Kraut Line.’”

Uh Cliff?...I thought The Kraut Line was the Bruin line of Milt Schmidt, Bobby Bauer and Woody Dumart…that they actually got the name when they played together in Providence.

“Well, yeah…that would be the other ‘Kraut Line.’”

What about this team, Cliff…think they can hold on to a playoff spot?

“Oh, yeah…why, it’s a little known fact that when the Bruins have at least a three-point lead on the team just out of the playoffs going into the last ten games of the year, they have never lost that lead.”

You’re just making this up as you go along, aren’t you?

“What?!...Whaddya mean, ‘making it up?!...I never…uh, yeah, I’m making it up.”

Not too smart there, eh, Cliffy?

“Well, Here's a little known fact…The smartest animal is the pig. No, I'm telling you, your average oinker, yeah, yeah, yeah, scientists say; if a pig had thumbs and a language it could be trained to do simple manual labor.”

Like an NHL referee?

“Exactly!”

Hopefully, it won’t come to pigs…uh, referees deciding this in the manner that last Saturday’s game was decided. The Bruins could use the help, though. That 2-1 gift was the only game they’ve won in regulation in the last eight games (2-4-2, the other win coming yesterday in overtime against the Flyers).

Since taking it in the teeth against the Caps to start this eight-game slide, Boston is struggling mightily on offense – 11 goals, three of them yesterday (let’s hope that’s not a sign of breaking out). They’ve been shutout twice. No Bruin has more than two goals (Chuck Kobasew, Dennis Wideman, Marco Sturm), no Bruin has more than four points (Marc Savard, Sturm, Wideman).

Special teams have been special…in ways not to the liking of Bruin fans. The lack of productivity on the power play (3-for 37 – 8.1 percent) is matched only by the ineptitude of the penalty killers (22-for-34 – 64.7 percent).

It gets worse…Zdeno Chara, who might be expected to shadow (and we do mean, “shadow”) Alex Ovechkin whenever possible, did not make the trip with the team and will miss his fifth straight game.

A lot will depend on Tim Thomas in goal for the Bruins…if he gets the start. He played almost 62 minutes in the Bruins’ 3-2 overtime win yesterday, stopping 24 of 26 shots. His success against the Caps has been considerable – 8-1-1, 2.42, .922. But that one loss was a doozy, coming in the last game against the Caps…the one where he was pulled – twice – and gave up seven goals on 24 shots in 36:30 of total playing time.

If he doesn’t get the start, relief might be spelled, “Alex Auld.” Auld got the win in the 2-1 game last Saturday, stopping 23 of 24 shots. He does not, however, have overwhelming numbers against the Caps in his career – 2-2-0, 3.07, .872 – and he gave up three goals on ten shots in 23:30 in the 10-2 debacle on March 3^rd.

This game all of a sudden looks like the Atlanta game Friday night – a wounded, weakened opponent coming to town, struggling at both ends of the rink. Difference is, the Bruins are still fighting for a playoff spot, and that makes them dangerous.

A wounded bear…dangerous. Maybe Adams was onto something.

The Caps don’t lack for motivation. A win draws them to within four points of Boston fo seventh in the East, perhaps two of Philadelphia (if they lose to Pittsburgh in regulation) for eighth. They could find themselves within three points of Carolina with two games yet to play against the Hurricanes. The ramifications of a single game multiply quickly at this time of year, so it’s a “take care of business” game for the Caps before they board the flight for Nashville…

Caps 4 – Bruins 2