Peepin' Foes: Washington Capitals

The Rangers are entering the Phone Booth take on the Washington Capitals at 7 p.m. (MSG Plus) on Saturday. Hopefully someone will come out in a Superman suit to save the Blueshirts season ...

Where We Are: In a three-way tie for eighth place with Atlanta and Montreal. The Thrashers, however, have two games in hand so we have to start praying that they realize that they no longer have Ilya Kovalchuk and start losing like they should. As for our on-ice performance, the team - with some exceptions (Redden, Rozy) - has looked pretty good in the two games since the Olympic break. After the 4-1 win over the Sens, the Rangers took the Pens to overtime and grabbed a point that they had no right taking after being outshot 55-16.

Where They Are: Ehh, I knew you were going to ask that. Well ... the Caps are in first. Not just of the Southeast. Not just of the East. But the entire league. The Caps are the best team in the NHL. Greeeeeeeaaaaaaaat. They played back to back games on Wednesday and Thursday and won them both - with two different styles. The first was a tight 3-1 affair against Ryan Miller and the Sabres and the second was a wild 5-4 affair against the Bolts that had four goals scored in a three minute span of the third period. Wouldn't that have been a bad time to hit the bathroom?

Who To Watch For: You know what? It is probably easier to point out who not to watch. Shaone Morrisonn and Jeff Schultz aren't likely to score. Everyone else? Well, its possible. At the deadline the Capitals added a little firepower in Joe Corvo and a lot of character in Scott Walker and Eric Belanger. They also got Milan Jurcina back but he is hurt and wasn't particularly good for Slovakia in the Olympics so he doesn't count.

What To Watch For: Marian Gaborik's groin. The Rangers trying to keep pace with the faster, more skilled Washington forwards. Ranger discipline as they can't afford to let the vicious Capital power play on the ice too often. Any kind of changes that the Blueshirt may make to attempt to limit the shots on poor, shellshocked Denis Lemieux Henrik Lundqvist. Ovechkin vs. Marc Staal is usually epic.

What We'll (Hopefully) See: Less than 55 shots on Hank. Gabby looking strong and scoring a coupla goals. Tom Poti and "Uh Oh" Corvo doing something dumb to cost their team a goal. Rozy and Redden not doing anything dumb to cost their team a goal. Chris Drury to have another strong game - kinda weird that I'm saying that, right?

Also Check Out: I could give you a list but really, I just go to the best and leave the rest: Japer's Rink.