Hot Off the Presses

- NHL.com's Southeast Division report takes a look at...you guessed it, the Caps!! Get this - they're actually saying we could compete for the division title. It's quite a gushy article, and definitely a must-read for all Caps fans suffering from an inferiority complex after Wednesday's loss.

- Updated lineups per Vogel and Vogel...I guess the shuffling of lines worked before the Flyers game, so it could work tonight, too.

8-Ovechkin, 9-Zubrus, 20-Zednik
28-Semin, 24-Beech, 18-Pettinger
10-Bradley, 16-Sutherby, 27-Clymer
21-Laich, 15-Gordon, 87-Brashear

2-Pothier, 26-Morrisonn
47-Muir, 52-Green
4-Erskine, 44-Eminger

- Beech is back on a line with Semin, which hopefully will kickstart 2.0’s scoring. I seem to recall that the slump started when Beech was taken out in favor of Klepis, and part of that has to be tied to Beech’s success in the faceoff circle. He’s able to corral the puck and therefore control the play, allowing Semin to be more fluid and create more offense.

- After sitting out as a healthy scratch for the last few games, Muir is once again back in the lineup, replacing Jamie Heward. I'm not really sure of the reasoning, but Muir has been pretty decent so far.

- Brooks Laich returns to the lineup from the doghouse, er, press box. I really hope he starts to pick it up - he was one of my favorite players last year and I know he can do more than what he's shown so far. In my opinion there's no harm in giving him a nice long look this time around - Klepis and Fleischmann both have had long stints in the lineup and neither has really produced, at least on the scoreboard. They've both played pretty decently, though. Am I the only one who thinks they need to be on a line together? They seemed to have chemistry last year...

- And finally - the return of the Z-man! Clark is out so Zednik will take his place on the wing of our top line with two of our all-star candidates (see how I snuck that in? Persistence, baby!) This didn't really work opening night, but I'm hoping that was more a product of the entire team coming out flat and not a result of bad chemistry.