Washington Hosts Jackets in Home-and-Home

The Washington Capitals complete a home-and-home series with the Columbus Blue Jackets in Washington on Day 148. Columbus took the first leg, 4-3, in Ohio. Washington is sixth in the Wales Conference at 32-31-11. Columbus is 14th in the Campbell Conference at 24-43-8.

Zigmund Palffy leads the way for the Caps with 28 goals and 48 assists for 76 points. Patrick Marleau has 29 goals and 35 assists, while former Jacket David Vyborny adds 57 points. Anson Carter contributes 25 goals and 30 assists, and Mikael Renberg is chipping in iwth 21 goals and 32 assists.

On the blue line, Rob Blake packs an offensive punch with seven goals and 34 assists. Bryan Berard contributes 11 goals and 21 assists, while Dan Boyle adds 29 points.

In goal, Manny Legace is 25-26-8 with a 3.21 GAA and .882 save percentage. Peter Skudra is 6-5-3 with a 2.91 GAA and .894 save percentage.

For Columbus, Christian Berglund is one of the few bright spots with 27 goals and 29 assists. Jeff Halpern adds 45 points, while Cory Stillman has 21 goals and 23 assists.

On defense, Tim Gleason has 13 goals and 28 assists, and Martin Hohener has five goals and 36 assists. Deron Quint is also contributing to the offense with 37 points.

Between the pipes, Dan Blackburn is 23-42-8 with a 3.40 GAA and .880 save percentage. Arturs Irbe is 1-1-0 with a 4.20 GAA and .867 save percentage in 18 appearances. Irbe will get the nod against Washington as Blackburn is suspended for playing in too many games.