by Geoff Thompson
The Washington Capitals begin the 2013 National Hockey League season tonight in Tampa Bay against the Lightning. The familiar Southeast Divsion rival will look different from the crease out. Gone are original gatekeepers Dwayne Roloson and Mike Smith, replaced by former Nashville back-up Andres Lindback. The six foot six inch goalkeeper should be comfortable in Tampa with Swedish teammates Victor Hedman and Mattias Ohlund protecting his defensive zone.
The Lightning are still well represented at forward with young superstar Steven Stamkos leading the way alongside veterans Vincent Lecavalier and Martin St. Louis. Adam Hall, Benoit Pouliot, and Nate Thompson spearhead the bottom six crop of forwards, providing scoring punch across all four lines. The defense is led by Hedman, now entering his fourth NHL season in Tampa Bay. Lightning General Manager Steve Yzerman also made a Free Agency splash on the blue line, signing solid defenseman Matt Carle after a four year stint with the Philadelphia Flyers. Expect him to skate with the top pairing sometime this season.
After making the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2010-2011 as a first year GM Yzerman’s squad disappointed in 2012, capturing a meager eighty four standings points. The moves made on the defensive half of the puck are expected to get Stamkos and team back into the Eastern Conference’s top eight. Unfortunately an aging original core will keep the Lightning from chasing the Capitals come April. Lecavalier failed to register fifty points for the first time since 2002 and missed eighteen games due to injury. St. Louis had his five year Iron-Man Streak snapped last year, the diminutive forward missing five games and posting a six year low of twenty five goals and seventy four points.
Capitals’ new bench boss Adam Oates is former Lightning property, beginning his coaching career in Tampa Bay as an Assistant in 2009-2010. Oates’ success with the Lightning offense and power play landed him another Assistant Coaching gig in New Jersey the following year. Oates, with assistants Johansson, Hunter, and Forsythe should have a leg-up in defending Tampa’s highly skilled offense, one that came to realize its potential while under the tutelage of the Capitals’ current Head Coach (Stamkos’ first 50G season).
Practical Preseason Prediction 5
The Washington Capitals will open the 2013 season with a win in Tampa Bay, both Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom registering points on the power play.
The Capitals will feed off a strong start from #1A netminder Braden Holtby, the young goaltender using his size and athleticism to keep Stamkos’ lethal shot in check and offensive greats Lecavalier and St. Louis. The Lightning were predicted to finish last in a competitive Southeast Division by Puck Daddy’s Sean Leahy but I disagree. The addition of Lindback and Carle complements a talented young crop of stars (Stamkos and Hedman) but the Lightning will fall short of Washington and the Carolina Hurricanes in the Southeast.
The Capitals’ continued assertion of division dominance begins tonight at seven PM in the Times Forum.
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