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Welcome to Caps 'Round the Clock, a blog covering the Washington Capitals and the NHL. In season, I update the Blog after every practice and on game day with Caps news and information, and then provide a recap and analysis after each contest. I also write a periodical Prospect Watch and weekly feature pieces on the state of the Men in Red and other things Capitals. And of course, I will post videos and tidbits from around the League and offer my two cents as the season wears on. In the offseason, I write a Report Card for each player, and will keep you updated on all the news about the Caps through the summer. I'm glad you're here, and hope you come back!

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Gameday: vs. Boston, Apr. 21 - Round One, Game Six

A golden opportunity awaits the Caps in this one.
The Washington Capitals will welcome the Boston Bruins to Verizon Center this afternoon to play game six of their Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series.  The Capitals have won two games in a row after falling behind in the series two games to one, winning 2-1 in Washington Thursday and 4-3 in Boston yesterday.  The Capitals therefore lead the series 3-2, and have a chance to close out the defending Stanley Cup Champions on home ice, a golden opportunity that is not afforded to many teams.  I think very few people saw this coming, but the Caps have been playing well and playing tight defense.  This game is huge, though, because TD Garden will be a madhouse if the Bruins win this game and then have game seven back in Boston.

Tim Thomas is expected to get the call in goal from Claude Julien, just as he has in every playoff game for the Bruins in the last two years.  Thomas, the winner of last year's Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP, has looked more mortal recently, as he allowed four goals on 32 shots in Saturday's game. Nevertheless, he has a 2.05 GAA, .933 save percentage, and one shutout in these playoffs. Outside the crease, the Bruins will be without forwards Nathan Horton and Marc Savard, who are out with concussions and will not play at all this postseason.  Center Patrice Bergeron, who took a pair of questionable hits in Saturday's game, is questionable, as is defenseman Adam McQuaid (head/face).

Dale Hunter will continue to roll with Braden Holtby in goal after the rookie came up with another big performance yesterday afternoon, stopping 33 of 36 shots. Holtby has posted a 1.86 GAA and .946 save percentage in these playoffs, his first at the NHL level.  The Capitals do not have any injuries on their roster, but look for Dale Hunter to keep the same lineup for this game that won game five; that means Mathieu Perreault, Mattias Sjogren, Jeff Halpern, Jeff Schultz, and Dmitry Orlov will be the healthy scratches once more.

Puck drops 3:20-ish.  As always, follow me on Twitter here for news and updates.

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