Capitals-Bruins Preview

 

Regular Season Matchup
	W-L-OT	HOME	ROAD	DIV	CONF
WAS	13-5-6	7-2-3	6-3-3	4-0-0	10-4-5
BOS	11-8-4	6-5-2	5-3-2	3-0-1	7-4-4
· Complete Standings

Team Stat Comparison
83	Goals	54
71	Goals Against	55
22	Power Play Goals	12
21	Power Play Goals Allowed	13
0	Shorthanded Goals	2
2	Shorthanded Goals Allowed	3
244	Penalty Minutes	291
10	Average Penalty Minutes	13

Goalie Breakdown
	GOALIE	GP	W	TGA	GAA	SO	SV	SV%
	Jose Theodore	14	5	39	3.24	0	325	.893
	Semyon Varlamov	12	8	29	2.55	0	317	.916
	Michal Neuvirth	1	0	3	3.07	0	19	.864
	Tim Thomas	14	5	33	2.33	3	370	.918
	Tuukka Rask	9	6	21	2.28	1	239	.919

Team Stat Leaders
G	Alex Ovechkin 16	Patrice Bergeron 7
A	Mike Green 21	Zdeno Chara 12
PTS	Alex Ovechkin 26	Patrice Bergeron 18
PIM	Shaone Morrisonn 27	Shawn Thornton 49
SOG	Alex Ovechkin 101	Zdeno Chara 61

The Boston Bruins and Washington Capitals took the top two seeds in the Eastern Conference last season, and each team gathered plenty of hardware at the awards ceremony.

Both budding powers, however, have their eyes on a different trophy.

Two-time reigning league MVP Alexander Ovechkin will again be the main attraction as the clubs begin their quest for the Stanley Cup in Thursday's season opener in Boston, with the Capitals and Bruins set to see their first meaningful action since each was eliminated in the second round of last spring's postseason in a bitter Game 7.

Not only did Ovechkin win his second straight Hart Trophy in 2008-09, but he helped launch the Capitals (50-24-8) to the No. 2 spot in the East and their first playoff series victory in 11 years.

Coach Bruce Boudreau's club fell flat in an ugly 6-2 home loss in Game 7 to eventual Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh, but there's plenty of optimism surrounding the young team as it tries to win its first-ever Cup.

Washington's success starts with the dynamic Ovechkin, who led the league with 56 goals and ranked second with 110 points last season, also winning his second straight Pearson Trophy -- the MVP voted by the players.

"Alex has won all these individual awards," owner Ted Leonsis said. "To take the next step into immortality, you have to win the Stanley Cup. Because he gets that, and he's internalized that, that permeates everything. He's driven, and the team's driven that's what we have to do."

Washington could have the depth to do it. Last season, 21-year-old center Nicklas Backstrom tied for third in the NL with 66 assists, and right wing Alexander Semin missed 20 games due to injury but averaged 1.3 points per game when healthy.

Veteran Mike Knuble has been added to that group of forwards, and Norris Trophy nominee Mike Green is back after becoming the first defenseman in 16 season to score at least 30 goals.

"We got people in the seats, we got enthusiasm, we got people buying jerseys," captain Chris Clark said. "Now it's up to us to really show 'em. Follow us -- and we're going to go somewhere."

Washington's biggest question mark could be in net after rookie Semyon Varlamov played the bulk of the minutes in the postseason but was pulled in the clinching loss. He was replaced by veteran Jose Theodore, who had lost his starting spot.

Boston (53-19-10) has no goaltending controversy after Tim Thomas won his first Vezina Trophy last season. Thomas led the league with a 2.10 goals-against average and was rewarded with a contract extension just before the end of the regular season.

He wasn't the only Bruin to be honored this summer. Captain Zdeno Chara won the Norris Trophy as the league's best defenseman, while coach Claude Julien earned the Jack Adams Award as the top coach after leading his team to the No. 1 seed in the East.

"I think we've got to work our way to the top just like we did last year," Julien said. "There's nothing different except the challenge will be bigger, there's more respect toward our team this year."

The Bruins, who allowed an NHL-low 190 goals last season and ranked second in the league with 270 goals scored, were eliminated in overtime of Game 7 in the second round by Carolina, and they still haven't won the Cup since 1972, but they bring back most of their core after a breakout season.

Only one major piece is gone. Leading goal-scorer Phil Kessel was traded to Toronto on Sept. 18 following a lengthy contract dispute.

"We just gotta really focus on moving forward here without him and not thinking for a second that now we've turned from a good team into a bad team because I think we'll be just fine," Julien said.

The team will welcome back Marco Sturm after the forward missed most of last season with a knee injury, and Boston will likely have David Krejci in the lineup Thursday despite offseason hip surgery. Krejci, the NHL leader in plus/minus at plus-37 last season, is ahead of schedule.

Krejci was held to one goal and no assists in four games against Washington last year, with the Bruins losing three of them -- one in overtime. Each team mostly bottled up the other's potent attack throughout the series, with the Capitals outscoring Boston 11-8.