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Sunday, 06 February 2011 10:00

Written by Seth Rorabaugh

A preview of the Capitals.

When and where: 12:30 p.m., Verizon Center.

TV: NBC, TSN2.

Record: 28-15-10, 66 points. The Capitals are in fifth place in the Eastern Conference and second place in the Southeast Division.

Leading Scorer: Alex Ovechkin 55 points (20 goals, 35 assists).

Last Game: 5-2 road win against the Lightning Friday. Nicklas Backstrom (right) had two goals and two assists for the Capitals.

Last Game against the Penguins: 3-1 road win, Jan. 1. Evgeni Malkin scored for the Penguins. They played this game outside. You may have heard about it.

Capitals Player We Would Bet Money On Scoring: Mike Knuble. He has scored in 10 consecutive regular season games against the Penguins.

Ex-Penguins on the Capitals: Matt Bradley, LW.

Ex-Capitals on the Penguins: Matt Cooke, LW; Brent Johnson, G.

Useless Capitals Trivia Vaguely Related to the Penguins: The first four-goal game by a Capitals players came against the Penguins. Stan Gilbertson, who would eventually play for the Penguins, put four goals behind Penguins goaltender Bob Johnson, the father of Brent Johnson, in an 8-4 win March 6, 1975.

Best Capitals Video We Could Find: Backstrom getting confused:

Probable goaltenders: Marc-Andre Fleury (25-11-2, 2.20 GAA, .924 SV%) for the Penguins and Semyon Varlamov (9-7-4, 2.13 GAA, .928 SV%) for the Capitals.

Injuries: For the Penguins, forward Arron Asham (undisclosed) is day to day. Forward Evgeni Malkin (knee) is out. Forwards Mike Comrie (hip), Sidney Crosby (concussion), Mark Letestu (knee) and defenseman Alex Grant (knee) are on injured reserve. For the Capitals, goaltender Michael Neuvirth ("lower-body") is day to day. Forwards Eric Fehr (shoulder) Alexander Semin (groin) and defenseman Tom Poti ("lower-body") are on injured reserve.

Potential lines and defensive pairings: The Penguins' primary lines and in practice yesterday:

Matt Cooke - Jordan Staal - Tyler Kennedy
Chris Kunitz - Dustin Jeffrey - Pascal Dupuis
Mike Rupp - Maxime Talbot - Chris Conner
Eric Tangradi - Craig Adams - Eric Godard

-All seven defensemen practiced yesterday. Their primary pairings against the Sabres Friday were:

Brooks Orpik - Kris Letang
Paul Martin - Zbynek Michalek
Alex Goligoski - Deryk Engelland

The Capitals' held an informal practice yesterday. Their primary lines and defensive pairings against the Lightning Friday were:

Karl Alzner - John Carlson
David Schultz - Mike Green
John Erskine - Scott Hannan

Notes:

-Is David Steckel a marked man?

-"We've had some practice over the last [several] games with this situation, so I don't think there are big adjustments that are made at this point in time." - Dan Bylsma on playing without Crosby and Malkin.

-"There are no cameras around, no HBO, and we're not going to play outside. But it's still a team that we like to play." - Talbot

-"I would say this is my biggest opportunity so far." - Dustin Jeffrey (PG+).

-Engelland has appeared in 49 career games.

-Bylsma has 99 career wins.

-Michalek has 98 career assists.

-Kennedy has 47 career goals.

"Ever since somebody said [Pittsburgh] couldn't win without him, they've won eight out of [their last] nine." - Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau on the Penguins playing without Sidney Crosby.

-Backstrom has appeared in 199 career games.

-Our live blog, direct from Washington D.C., begins at approximately 11:30 a.m. Please tune in.

(Photo: Nick Laham/Getty Images)

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