Minnesota Wild vs. Washington Capitals: Game 19

Washington Capitals (11-6-3) @ Minnesota Wild (11-6-1)

Xcel Energy Center @ 7:00 CST

Television: Versus (HD)
Radio: WCCO 830AM or Listen Live

For the Washington perspective, check out On Frozen Blog

Tonight's lines:

NOTES:

• Left wing Alexander Semin has missed each of the last four contests and defenseman Mike Green has missed two straight. Neither are expected to play tonight.
• Washington is 11th in the NHL on the power play at 19.8% and 22nd in the league with a 79.8% kill rate.
• The Wild are eighth in the NHL in power play proficiency with 20.8% and have the league’s top penalty killing outfit with a kill rate of 91.4%.
• Niklas Backstrom is fourth in the NHL with a 2.00 GAA and a .932 save pct.
• The Caps are 5-4 against the Western Conference this season.

Questions to Answer

1. With Semin out, the Wild are saved the task of having to key on two offensive powers. Will they be able to shutdown Alex Ovechkin?
   Now that the number of shots has been increased lately, can ANYONE find the back of the net?
   Will Niklas Backstrom or Nicklas Backstrom have a better game?
   Does tonight end the Burns at forward experiment?
   Will the Wild "ruin" yet another nationally televised game by playing "their style" better than the Eastern team plays theirs?

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