Game of the Night 11/5

The game of the night tonight will again feature two of the best teams in the league in the early goings. The Boston Bruins (7-2-0) led by Tim Thomas in net will take on Alexander Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals (8-4-0 ) for the third time this season.

The Bruins are 2-0 against the Caps so far, beating them in Washington once and Boston the other time. Tonight's game will be played at the Verizon Center in the nation's capital. Up front, the Bruins are led by Nathan Horton (5-5-10 ), Milan Lucic (5-4-9 ) and David Krejci (2-8-10 ). They are still without star centerman Marc Savard who is recovering from post concussion syndrome. Rookie Tyler Seguin has played well in his absence compiling 3 g-2 a-5 pts in his first campaign. Defensively, Zdeno Chara is showing that he is worth his contract extension, being everything the Bruins hoped he would.

The Capitals are led by who else but Alexander Ovechkin who has 7 g -8 a - 15 pts so far this season, continuing his dominance of this league since he entered it in 2005.  Alexander Semin and Nicklas Backstrom are off to good starts as well, with 7 g - 6 - a - 13 pts and 4 g - 6 a - 10 pts respectively. Goaltender, and rookie of the month for October, Michael Neuvirth should be between the pipes for the Capitals. Neuvirth has edged out fellow 22 year old Semyon Varlamov for the starting job this season posting a .920 sv% and a 2.31 GAA en route to a 8-3 record.

If this game is anything like the other two, look for a very fast paced, highly offensive game with both teams getting a lot of opportunities at the net. Ultimately it will come down to goaltending and who can capitalize on their offensive opportunities. Although the Capitals have one of the most dangerous offences in the league, the Bruins have already shown they can stop it, allowing just 2 goals in 2 games against the Caps this season. Special teams should be the key, the Caps powerplay is 10th, penalty kill is 5th. Boston's powerplay is 11th and their penalty kill is 1st, killing off 91.4% of opponents powerplay. If Tim Thomas can continue his incredible season I would look for the Bruins to win this game 3-1 in a very close affair, with Thomas as the shining star yet again. The game will be aired on NHLN-US (HD) and NESN (HD), it starts at 7:00 PM.