November 14 vs. New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center     
Time: 7:00 pm
TV: Comcast SportsNet
Radio: 820AM, 1500AM and XM

Washington Capitals (12-3-4)
New Jersey Devils (13-4)

For the third time in the young 2009-10 season, the Washington Capitals meet the New Jersey Devils on Saturday night. The Caps and Devils are hooking up for the third time in 34 days, and they are meeting in New Jersey for the second time in 11 days.

The Caps are coming to Jersey on the heels of a 3-1 win over the Minnesota Wild at Verizon Center on Friday. That victory did not come without a cost. Washington lost veteran right wing Mike Knuble to a broken finger that will require surgery. Knuble is expected to miss 3-4 weeks.

To replace Knuble in the lineup, it is possible that injured left wing Alex Ovechkin and/or ailing center Boyd Gordon will be able to return to the lineup against New Jersey.

With a win on Saturday, the Caps can match the best start after 20 games in franchise history. The 1991-92 team roared out to a 15-5 (30 points) start after 20 contests. A victory would also give Caps coach Bruce Boudreau his 100th career win in the NHL. Boudreau is still several days shy of the second anniversary of his takeover of the coaching reins.

The Caps and Devils currently occupy the top two spots in the Eastern Conference standings. With 28 points, the Capitals have two more than second-place New Jersey, but the Devils have played two fewer games. Washington’s .737 points percentage is a shade behind New Jersey’s .765 mark.

New Jersey came from behind to win both of the two previous meetings between the two clubs this season. The Devils won a 3-2 shootout decision from the Caps on Oct. 12 at Verizon Center after Washington had taken a 2-0 lead in the game.

The Caps had a 1-0 lead in the Nov. 4 rematch in New Jersey, but the Devils took advantage of some undisciplined third-period play on the Caps’ part to score two power play goals on their way to a 3-2 victory.

That loss at the Prudential Center is the Caps’ lone regulation setback in the last 34 days. The Capitals are 10-1-3 since taking a 3-2 loss at Detroit on Oct. 10. All three of Washington’s regulation losses this season have come by a single goal, and the Capitals have held a lead in the second period or later in all 19 of their games thus far in 2009-10.

The Capitals lead the NHL with 71 goals scored and with an average of 3.74 goals per game. The Caps also pace the NHL with 52 even-strength goals and with a 1.47 goals for/goals against ratio.

New Jersey is a perfect 9-0 on the road this season and is a pedestrian 4-4 on its home ice sheet. With a win in its next road game at Philadelphia on Monday night, the Devils can match an NHL record for most consecutive road victories at the start of a season. That of 10 straight road wins at the start of an NHL campaign is currently held by the 1996-97 Buffalo Sabres.

The Devils bring a seven-game winning streak into Saturday’s game. They’ve won 10 of their last 11, allowing more than two goals in just one of those 11 games. That was a 4-1 loss to Buffalo on Oct. 28.

“It’ll be a fun game,” says Boudreau. “Every game we’ve played against them I think in the last two years has been a fun game. They’ve beaten us twice this year, once in a shootout and once 3-2 in their building. I anticipate both teams will really want to win the game so it should be fun.”

Nine of the last 13 games between the Caps and Devils have been decided by a single goal, and four of those have required more than 60 minutes to settle.

“They play a patient game and it’s always boring playing them because they sit back and they wait for you to make mistakes,” observes Caps defenseman Mike Green. “It seems like the last couple games we’ve played them they’ve done that to us and they’ve created chances off our mistakes.

“As long as we don’t get cute, then we’ll be fine. If we get a couple on the power play – which I don’t think we’ve done the last couple games we’ve played them – then we’ll be fine.”

Green is right. Washington is 0-for-6 on the power play against New Jersey this season. In 2008-09, the Caps scored at least one power play goal in all four of their games against the Devils and were 6-for-15 (40%) with the extra man on the season against New Jersey.

The Devils have been dominant on special teams of late. New Jersey is 7-for-23 (30.4%) with the extra man in its last five games and the Devils have not allowed a power play goal against during the life of the team’s current seven-game winning streak. New Jersey is a perfect 20-for-20 on the penalty kill in its last seven contests.