Caps Conclude Quick Homestand vs. Sens

Feb. 26 vs. Ottawa Senators at Capital One Arena
Time: 7:00 p.m.
TV: NBCSW
Radio: Capitals Radio 24/7, FAN 106.7
Ottawa Senators 22-35-5
Washington Capitals 35-21-7

The Caps finish up a quick two-game homestand and the February portion of their 2018-19 schedule on Tuesday night when they host the Ottawa Senators. The game is the last of three meetings between the NHL's two nation's capital teams; Washington won successive Saturday night games from the Senators in late December.
This is the second straight season in which Washington will host Ottawa in its first game following the trade deadline, and the Caps have the same exact record they had when they hosted the Sens after the deadline last season, 35-21-7.
Washington has won three of its last four games as it enters Tuesday's February finale against the Senators. Most recently, the Caps skated away with a 6-5 overtime triumph over the New York Rangers on Sunday afternoon, a game in which they prevailed despite squandering a pair of two-goal leads and despite giving up goals in the first half-minute of two of the game's three periods.
"It was kind of a crazy game, I think," says Caps center Nicklas Backstrom, who scored twice for Washington in Sunday's game. "A lot of back and forth. We had the two-goal lead there in the third, but they're a good team, they're a young team, and they're never going to stop working. And that paid off for them, but luckily we stuck with it and got it done in overtime."

Sunday's game was the Caps' first game back after returning from their longest road trip in more than 15 years - a six-game, 12-day journey that took them to from Columbus to California to Canada, and finally, Buffalo. Sunday's game was the Caps' eighth in a span of just 14 days, and they emerged from that grueling stretch with a respectable 5-3-0 mark.
Both of Washington's newest acquisitions - left wing Carl Hagelin and defenseman Nick Jensen - played their first home games in Caps sweaters on Sunday. Both players joined the Caps in Buffalo late last week, but only Hagelin played in Saturday's trip finale in Buffalo.
Hagelin has skated the left side of the fourth line in his first two games with the Caps, adding speed and penalty-killing prowess to the Washington mix. The Caps believe he can be used up and down the lineup.
"That's something we are going to continue to work and navigate through different combinations and how to best use a player like Carl Hagelin with his speed and his hockey sense, and his understanding of how to play in big games and pressurized situations," said Caps coach Todd Reirden after Sunday's game. "I thought he did a really good job again tonight showing us his speed and him being a factor that way. He gets a little three-on-three time there and opportunities.
"He is going to be a good pickup for us for sure. Systematically, it's just two days for him, but I think he has shown his versatility for us."
Hagelin has moved around before; the Caps are his third team this season and the fifth for which he has played during his NHL career. Jensen comes from Detroit, the only organization he ever knew, and where he spent the last decade budding into the player he is today.
While Hagelin had the luxury of a full practice with his new teammates on Friday in Buffalo, the Caps put the finishing touches on the Jensen trade during that practice. So when Jensen made his debut on Sunday, he had taken warm-ups ahead of both weekend games, he watched Saturday's game against the Sabres from the press box, and he watched video with the coaches and sat in on team meetings. Given those conditions, he acquitted himself quite nicely in just over 14 minutes of work in the win over the Rangers.
"He was able to understand what is expected of him," says Reirden of Jensen. "To me, expectations and understanding expectations are really important for both a coach and player to have - a clear understanding of what that is supposed to be. We knew going into the game that he was going to play with a veteran player [Brooks Orpik] that has played this particular system or nine or 10 years now. So it was someone that he was confortable with that would be able to help him at different times on the bench in different ways.
"The most important thing for me was to make sure that he was in a situation where he could have success, get the right match-ups for him, allow him to get some offensive zone time and touches and be able to showcase his best attributes which are his skating ability and his ability to defend, and some solid work on the penalty kill. So those were what we were looking for, and let's ease into it here. That's what's expected of you and we are not expecting a perfect game on day one. I thought for the most part he did that for sure."

What a tough couple of years and a tough few days it has been for the Ottawa Senators. Less than two years ago, the Sens were an overtime goal away from meeting the San Jose Sharks in the Stanley Cup Final series. But they plummeted 31 standings points to seventh in the Atlantic Division last season, and after dealing away the offensive core of their team over the weekend and on Monday's NHL trade deadline day, they'll be hard pressed to reach last season's modest total of 67 points in 2018-19.
Worse for the Sens, they traded away their first-round draft choice - a virtually guaranteed lottery pick in the 2019 NHL Draft - in a three-team swap that brought center Matt Duchene to Ottawa in November of 2017. But the Sens weren't able to come to terms with Duchene on a long-term contract extension, so they moved him to Columbus for a package of futures late last week. Duchene's career as a Senator lasted 118 games, or about a season and a half.
On Sunday, the Sens sent winger Ryan Dzingel to Columbus, and on Monday they swapped sniper Mark Stone to the Vegas Golden Knights, who quickly agreed to terms with him on an eight-year contract extension.
The Sens brought back some solid future assets in those deals, but the real dagger for Ottawa is not having its own first-rounder this summer. Colorado holds that pick, and you better believe the Avs are rooting for the Sens to finish '18-19 with the league's worst record, a distinction they hold coming into Tuesday's game.
In dealing away Duchene, Dzingel and Stone, the Sens lost three of their top four scorers this season. Sophomore defenseman Thomas Chabot is now Ottawa's top scorer with 47 points (13 goals, 34 assists).