Game 26 Preview: New York Islanders at Washington Capitals

The Washington Capitals (13-9-3-29, first in Southeast) host the New York Islanders (10-12-2-22, fifth in Atlantic) for the first of four contests this season at 7:00 pm from Washington's Verizon Center. The Capitals find themselves in the midst of their first extended slump of the season, losers of five of their last seven games, all in regulation time. On Tuesday, against Florida, Washington suffered its first home regulation loss of the season, breaking a 16 game streak dating back to last year's playoff run. Injuries and lost man-games seem to have caught up to the Capitals, and there does not appear to be any relief on the horizon. All of DC's walking wounded will miss the tilt with the Islanders, and the team does not expect any to return for the weekend either. In fact, the Caps made another call-up from AHL's Hershey squad, center Keith Aucoin. Aucoin, 30, was the AHL's leading scorer with nine goals and 27 assists in 24 games, and he will center Tomas Fleischmann and Viktor Kozlov on the ... (link)