Race Week Begins -- Appropriately -- With Penguins vs. Capitals

As the final week of the 2009/2010 regular season kicks off for the Pittsburgh Penguins, much remains to be determined.

Where will they finish in the Eastern Conference Standings?

Will Sidney Crosby win the Rocket Richard Trophy as the NHL's leading goal scorer?

Can the Penguins notch a regular season "W" against the league's best team for a change?

The process of getting answers to those questions begins tonight -- conveniently enough -- as the Penguins welcome the Washington Capitals to Mellon Arena in the final regular season meeting between the two clubs this year (7:30 PM EST, VERSUS).

The Caps' have taken all 3 games from the Penguins this season, including the last two in Washington in overtime and a shootout, respectively.

Couple that with the 4 regular season wins the Captials took from the Pens' last year and, suddenly, the Penguins haven't beaten Washington @ Mellon since December of 2007.

Now, in the grand scheme, all that doesn't mean a lot. After all, the Penguins have gotten it done when it counted the most those last two seasons -- including last year's epic 7-game Eastern Confernece Semifinal playoff victory over the Capitals.

But that doesn't mean tonight's game isn't important for Pittsburgh. And not just because it would be nice to get rewarded for some of the good work they've been putting in against Washington in recent games. The Pens want to remind Washington who the defending champions are.

"We need to play in a way that sends a message", said Pens' forward Mike Rupp.

Of course, having both Sergei Gonchar and Evgeni Malkin -- who each missed the last game against the Caps -- in the lineup will help that.

More importantly, though, the 2 points at stake tonight would do wonders for the Boys of Winter in the standings, as Pittsburgh currently sits tied with New Jersey with 97 points, but in 2nd place in the Atlantic Division (and 4th in the East) thanks to sitting on the wrong side of the tiebreaker with the Devils.

New Jersey, by the way, visits an Atlanta Thrashers' squad tonight that still has everything to play for as they try to get into the post-season.

In addition to the importance of the message and the 2 points tonight, there's the little matter of the Richard Trophy still being up for grabs this season.

Even though he's only scored 3 goals in his last 16 games, Sidney Crosby remains the NHL's goal leader, with 47. Alexander Ovechkin -- who's scored only 4 goals himself since the Olympics -- sits 2nd with 46, tied with Tampa Bay Lightning's young gun Steven Stamkos.

Nobody needs reminded of what tends to happen when Crosby and Ovechkin come together. While both players were pretty quiet in the team's last contest, don't expect that to remain the case. And surely, the lure of the Richard Trophy adds more spice to game tonight.

Here's a piece on that:

http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Hockey/NHL/2010/04/05/13477486.html

Elsewhere on the ice, it looks as if the Penguins will have to do without LW Chris Kunitz this evening.

Kunitz sustained an undisclosed lower body injury late in the second period of the Penguins' last game on Saturday afternoon against the Thrashers and did not return.

Kuntiz' spot in the lineup will likely be taken by Rupp, who was a healthy scratch on Saturday for the first time this season.

Rupp will likely rejoin the 4th line, while Ruslan Fedotenko will likely see time on Crosby's LW in Kunitz' place.

Meanwhile, the Capitals will be playing on back-to-back nights, after beating the Boston Bruins in overtime last night at the Verizon Center, so that may be something the Penguins can take advantage of.

While the Caps' blowhard coach Bruce Boudreau has indicated that he will rest players this week with his team already having the President's Trophy as the league's best regular season club in the bag, the biggest lineup decision the Caps' may have to make tonight will probably surround defenseman Mike Green.

Green didn't play last night against the Bruins and was said to be just getting the night off. Reports out of Washington indicate Green is healthy, but my Caps' insider tells me that Green showed up for yesterday's game-day skate in Washington with tape and a wrap on his left wrist.

Interesting insight there. Kudos to him for that tip. He's the one who first provided me word of the story linking the Caps' to the D.C. chiropractor who obtained steriods from a trainer arrested in Florida several weeks ago.

No word on whether they'll be any signs at The Igloo tonight emblazoned with "HGH" on them.

In any event, tonight's game definitely looms large, in more ways than one.

"I think this last game against them is really big," said Pens' center Jordan Staal.

Let's hope the Penguins can get the extra boost that would come from winning it.

Recap tomorrow.

Let's Go Pens!