Caps Entertain Red Wings on Black Friday
The Caps take a season high three-game winning streak into Friday's game against Detroit in the District
The Caps close out a quick two-game homestand on Black Friday afternoon against the Detroit Red Wings, then depart for the Big Apple where they will spend the rest of Thanksgiving weekend with their dads on their annual Mentors' Trip.
Home for only about 84 hours after more than a week on the road, the Caps started the homestand with a 4-2 win over Chicago on Wednesday in their annual Thanksgiving Eve home game, their eighth straight win over the Blackhawks in the District. For the Capitals, Wednesday's win gives them their first three-game winning streak of the season, and they've won all three games despite the absence of top six forwards Evgeny Kuznetsov and T.J. Oshie and veteran defenseman Brooks Orpik.
"It's something we've discussed in the room, it's just a team effort," says Caps coach Todd Reirden of his team's mini winning streak without a trio of key performers. "There are some guys getting different opportunities and taking advantage of them. That's something that's been a little bit of a rally cry from the beginning of the year this year, not having our roster - maybe but for a game or two, if that - without Brooks and Tom [Wilson] with the suspension, and now the injuries that have come our way. But it's been a good chance for us to focus on some of the things systematically that make us successful and understand that it's a team game."
Wilson has played five games for Washington since returning to action from a league suspension, and the Caps are 4-1-0 during that span. The 24-year-old winger is now in his sixth full season in the league, and is already approaching the 400 games played plateau.
Drafted 16th overall in 2012, only two players in the league have played more NHL games among his draft class than Wilson, who lost the equivalent of roughly half a season to an ankle injury and suspensions during his time in the league. Wilson is set to play his 397th career game on Friday against the Wings; only Arizona's Alex Galchenyuk (431 games) and Toronto's Morgan Rielly (410) have appeared in more games among the 2012 class of NHL draftees. Galchenyuk went to Montreal with the third overall choice that summer while Rielly went to the Leafs with the fifth overall pick. Wilson was the 16th choice in 2012.
In five games this season, Wilson is averaging over 20 minutes in ice time, and he has recorded two goals and six points. Dating back to late last regular season and including the 2018 Stanley Cup playoffs, Wilson has 10 goals and 25 points in his last 37 games.
Wilson's return has lifted the Caps, but Michal Kempny and Lars Eller have helped to spearhead the team's last two wins with game winning goals against former employers, and Devante Smith-Pelly and his linemates have contributed two crucial goals in the last three games, too. Mix in a better team defense and some sturdy goaltending from both Braden Holtby and Pheonix Copley, and the Caps have now won six of their last nine games after a couple of ugly losses at the start of November.
"I'm really happy with how the guys have rallied around each other and played our best team hockey over the road trip and then going into [Wednesday] night," says Reirden. "Sometimes it's a difficult game to play, the first game back after a road trip. I thought we had a strong performance, obviously not perfect, but we did some really good things."
The Red Wings dropped seven straight games (0-5-2) before earning their first victory of the season, and they won just one of their first 10 games (1-7-2). But just before the end of October, the Wings caught fire and they've been scalding ever since.
Detroit has won nine of its last 11 games (9-2-0), achieving five of those wins beyond the 60-minute mark - three of them in overtime and two in the shootout. Each of their two losses during that stretch came by the margin of a single goal.
Most recently, the Wings won a 3-2 overtime decision over the Boston Bruins in Motown on Wednesday night. The Wings are making a one-game trip to D.C. to face the Caps; they'll return home to host Atlantic Division rival Buffalo on Saturday night.
