The national capitals meet tonight at Scotiabank Place. The Ottawa Senators will try to win their fourth straight, which would be their longest winning streak so far this season. Meanwhile, the Washington Capitals will try to get back home with half of the possible 10 points for their road trip. They have been disappointed with their 1-2-1 results so far, and their Saturday loss to the last place Leafs must have stung somewhat.



Pundits underscore the Capitals' injuries as the source of their recent woes. Sure, the absence of Tom Poti on the blie line and Mike Knuble have an impact, but the absence of Quintin Laing and Boyd Gordon are non-starters. Rather, the recent slump of Alex Ovechkin is likely to have more of an impact, and he will be trying hard to break that slump. Now "slump" for Alex Ovechkin is not the same as "slump" for anyone else. Overchkin, who was good 1.65 points per game before an upper body injury sidelined him for 5 days, has dropped to 0.66 points per game. Like I said, many an NHLer would give a lot for that kind of slump. The fact remains that Ovechkin has not looked comfortable since his return.

Meanwhile, the Senators will continue to have to do without the services of A-Train Anton Volchenkov, as well as Shean Donovan who suffered a knee-on-knee against the Penguins last week. Donovan, a high-energy player, could be out for six to eight weeks. I also expect that Brian Elliott will get the nod from coach Cory Clouston following the mishap between Pacal Leclaire and Jochen Hecht against the Sabres Saturday. It would be the safe thing to do.

I'm looking for the Caps to come out hard and try to overload the Senators early, kind of like the Penguins pulled on the hometown boys last week. The Senators will have to dictate the pace of play. Otherwise, they should keep on playing exactly the same way they have been for the last three games.