The Caps continue their way west on Tuesday night when they take on the Flames in Calgary in the second game of their season-long five-game road trip. Washington got the trip off to a good start on Sunday in Chicago, downing the Blackhawks 5-3 for its third straight win.
Washington never trailed on Sunday, but it struggled to find its footing for much of the game. The Hawks showed a strong and consistent forecheck, and they made it difficult for the Caps to exit their own zone, and it was tough sledding to get through neutral ice as well.
Special teams were critical, and the Caps came through on both sides of that coin. They didn't have the puck very much, so they only had one power play opportunity, but they made it count, getting a T.J. Oshie goal eight seconds into the advantage. Washington spent 10 minutes of the game shorthanded, killing off all of that time while also getting a critical Nic Dowd shorthanded goal early in a four-minute kill. Dowd's goal was the first shorty of his NHL career, and it came when the game was tied midway through the second period, and momentum was up for grabs.
"It's not going to be perfect every night," says Dowd. "We're going to have to rely on different guys, and tonight we relied on [Braden Holtby] and our special teams."
Holtby turned in a strong performance as Dowd notes, turning aside 41 of 44 Chicago shots, and picking up his third win of the season. The Caps' netminder was dialed in all night, and he needed to be, as the 44 shots against marked a season high for Washington. The Caps entered the game having allowed the fewest shots per game in the NHL, but yielded more than 40 for the first time in 2019-20, and more than 30 for just the third time in 10 games.
Holtby had plenty of help in front of him, too, as the Caps combined to block 31 shots, the third highest single-game total they've managed since the NHL began tracking such data in 1997-98.
"Our commitment to blocking shots this year has been great," says Caps center Lars Eller. "I think that's an underrated factor going into the playoffs, paying the price and not letting pucks get through. Once those pucks get through the first layer, then anything can happen. It's like a pinball machine, and we've been on the wrong side of that so many times. Blocking shots and not letting pucks get through that first layer is huge for us, and our commitment has been a big positive for us."
For just the fourth time in franchise history, the Caps have won four of their first five road games. They also achieved that feat in 1991-92, 1997-98 and 2015-16.
