SUNDAY MORNING

(Thanks to offwing for the picture)

That is stylish! Today, Huet gets to try out his spanking new helmet against the Boston Bruins. The Bruins come to town after an Overtime win against the Flyers. In a game where Caps fans argued over who they should root for, the worst happened and it went to Overtime...sigh.

Last time they met the Bruins were the angry ones. But they could really only be mad at themselves for their poor play. I'd like to argue that today the Caps come in even angrier. Why? Because the Caps know they outplayed the Bruins last week and got robbed by the men in stripes. I'd be willing to say that the Caps come out pretty hard.

It's possible we could see Auld as Timmy played Saturday. Big Z will be out of the lineup which is great for the Caps.

You all know what to expect today as we have seen this team twice in the last week. For the Caps the all important first goal is...well...important. The Bruins like to score and then put you to sleep with their neutral zone clogging. The Caps also need to put the Bruins away, if they can get a lead. We saw last Saturday what outplaying a team all game with only 1 goal can do.

So the Caps (of course) are still in the "must win" mode and with a win can pull within 4 points of the Bruins. There is quite a bit of action around the league for a Sunday afternoon with big implications for the Caps...let's take a look.

• Philly plays the Pens at 12 on NBC. The Pens are Crosby-less but does that really matter? The Pens will be nice and rested again and hopefully can prevail. Wait, what did I just say?

• The Canes take on the Sens at 3pm in Raleigh. The Canes are coming off a Sabre-Spanking on Friday night and have lost Ray Whitney. The Sens look to have found their winning ways again and hopefully continue.
  

So, if the hockey gods help us out and the Canes and Flyers lose...

...the Caps would be 2 points out the 8th spot, 4 points out of the 7th spot, 5 points out of the 6th spot and 3 points out of the 3rd spot.

Wouldn't be a bad thing considering where we were and how we felt exactly 7 days ago? 

HOLD ONTO YOUR FLEECE HELMETS...HERE WE GO!