Pre-Cap: Capitals vs. Habs

Washington Capitals (36-16-5, first in SE, third in EC)
vs.
Montreal Canadiens (30-21-6, second in NE, fifth in EC)

HOCKEY PARTY TONIGHT!
HOCKEY PARTY TONIGHT!
We're gonna have a hockey party tonight!
Alright!
We've got nothing better to do!
Than smoke some cigs, and have a couple of brews!

Oh man, I never imagined I'd ever be riffing off Black Flag's "TV Party" in a pre-Cap, but I just did thanks to the Montreal Canadiens.

In case you haven't seen it, some major Canadiens players had photos of a trip to Mexico leaked onto the Internet, and it's causing a bit of an uproar in Montreal. It's pretty much a nonstory; NHL players have lives and partying needs they want to fulfill. So long as they don't shoot themselves in the leg, it's nothing more than an embarrassing post on PuckDaddy.

Speaking of road trips, the Capitals have just finished a successful one in Florida (no word on embarrassing photos...yet) leaving the Sunshine State with four points, giving them a commanding lead in the Southeast and keeping them neck-in-neck with the Devils in the race for second place. The sky's the limit for the Capitals, who are on track to break attendance records and have players breaking NHL records.

In Montreal, it seems the Habs are headed for "Implosionville," possibly joining the 07-08 Ottawa Senators as a team that started hot and finished cold. The Habs are 1-8 on the road since the middle of January and have gone 9-12 since the start of 2009.

This will be the Habs' 6,000th game in franchise history, and they'll do it without Alex Kovalev, who has been asked to sit out a few games to "rest." Kovalev has been highly ineffective (for a player of his caliber) this year for the Habs, with only 39 points in 57 games. The Habs will also be without Russian youngster Sergei Kostitsyn, who has been sent to the Habs' AHL club due a lack of production.

Will the Capitals give the Sen's Army Blog a reason to write another hilarious "No Habs No" letter? Or will the Canadiens right the ship, and turn their 100th season into something to celebrate?

Random Links...
Learn everything you could want to know about the Caps/Habs "rivalry" here...

LETS GO CAPS!