Oct. 9 vs. New York Rangers at Capital One Arena
Time: 7:00 p.m.
TV: MNMT
Radio: 106.7 The Fan, Capitals Radio Network
New York Rangers (4-1-0)
Washington Capitals (2-1-0)
On Friday night – the 52nd anniversary of their first ever game in the NHL – the Capitals host their opponent from that inaugural game on Oct. 9, 1974, the New York Rangers.
When they meet in the District on Friday, the Caps and Rangers will be facing off together for the 252nd time in the regular season; the Caps are 122-103-18-8 in the previous meetings.
The Friday night Metro Division matchup is the middle game of a three-game homestand; the Caps kicked it off on the good foot with a 5-3 win over Pittsburgh in Wednesday’s home opener, a game that contained multitudes. Before it even started, Caps captain Alex Ovechkin was introduced by his two young sons, Sergei and Ilya.
Then, both teams scored on their first shots of the game, and Anthony Beauvillier’s opening salvo – his 300th career NHL point – at the 23-second mark of the first bumped the Caps to an early 1-0 lead. Each member of the P-L Dubois line scored to forge a 4-1 Washington lead by the 13-minute mark of the second, but things got a little dicey over the remainder of the period. Pittsburgh scored a quick pair of goals, and the Pens were on a carryover power play at the end of the period, pressing for the equalizer.
After the Caps dominated the first – leading the Pens 9-2 in high danger scoring chances, according to Natural Stat Trick – Pittsburgh held a 9-3 advantage in the same stat the rest of the way. Washington’s goaltending and special teams came to the fore in the third to seal the victory, the Caps’ second in as many games against Metropolitan Division foes.
The Washington penalty killers – and Logan Thompson – snuffed out that Pittsburgh man advantage, and Ryan Leonard responded with a power-play goal early in the third, giving the Caps a two-goal lead to protect over the final 16 minutes. And protect it Thompson did, denying all 13 shots he faced in the third, including odd-man opportunities from noted Caps killer Bryan Rust and Blake Lizotte. Rust did score the first of the Pens’ three goals in the game.
“Obviously in the moment, it doesn’t feel great,” says Caps coach Spencer Carbery of the Pens’ push. “But it’s a great learning experience for our group, especially some of our young guys, who were put in some of those moments, of a 4-1 game in this League.
“But if you make multiple mistakes, and you’re going to make a mistake so we make one, but then we make two, three, four, five – you’ve got to stop the bleeding. And that’s what we just didn’t do.”
The dominance of the Dubois line – with Alex Tuch and Tom Wilson – special teams, and Thompson provided the winning formula for the home opener.
The Caps coach goes on to recite the litany of key stops Thompson made in the game’s final 40 minutes, when he faced 26 of his 30-shot workload on the night.
Wilson had a goal and two assists, and Tuch tucked his second game-winner in as many wins for Washington this season. Dubois had a goal and an assist.
“I think we took care of our own end for the most part,” says Wilson. “And then, when we get to the [offensive] zone, it’ll happen for us. You’ve just got to play the right way, especially when you’re playing against the other team’s best guys.”
“[Thompson] I thought was good,” says Carbery. “I know the stat line; I feel bad for the three [goals against] because he’s going to be bent of shape about that, I assure you.”
As they shift their attention to Friday night and the Rangers, the Caps took Thursday off at the conclusion of their first week of action. The game with the Rangers starts a stretch of four games in the next six nights.
After coming up empty in a 3-0 shutout loss at Boston in their season opener, the Rangers have reeled off four straight victories, outscoring the opposition by a combined 16-5 in the process.
Most recently, the Rangers dropped the Islanders at MSG on Tuesday, prevailing 5-2 on the strength of an Alexis Lafreniere hat trick and a couple of goals from Oliver Bjorkstrand.
Although the Caps and Rangers split their four meetings last season, and they split the games in each building, the Blueshirts scored seven goals in their win at Washington last December, and they went one better in an 8-1 victory in early April of this year.
