Caps Face Isles as Homestand Continues
Islanders come to DC to provide opposition for middle two matches of Caps' six-game homestand
Washington's season-long six-game homestand continues on Tuesday night when the New York Islanders come to the District for a two-game set. The Caps and Isles will tangle again on Thursday night at Capital One Arena.
As they get set to take on the Islanders for the first of eight times this season, the Caps will still be missing several players from their lineup, but it's uncertain how many as of yet. The Caps conducted a Monday afternoon practice, but it was an optional session and heavy-minute regulars were encouraged to take the day off. Each of the Caps' last four games has required overtime, and Washington has played six games in 11 days to start the season, with just one full day off at home during that span.
Each of Washington's four Russian players remains on the NHL's "unavailable due to Covid protocol" list. They've missed the last two games and will miss the upcoming pair of contests against the Islanders as well. Right wing Tom Wilson suffered a lower body injury in Friday night's game against Buffalo, an ailment that caused him to miss Sunday's rematch with the Sabres. Wilson was on the ice for Monday's practice, but his status for Tuesday's game against New York is still unknown.
"I felt pretty good, obviously good enough to stay out there," says Wilson of his Monday practice. "Obviously there is a big difference between flow drills and a skate through, per se, than an NHL hockey game with tons of battles and physical exertion.
"It's just one of those things that you can't really push through. Pushing through it might aggravate it or whatever. It's nothing too serious, I'm just trying to be careful with it and make sure I'm ready to go. Obviously, I want to be out there; I want to be battling with the guys. But there is lots of hockey left this year. We've just got to be smart."
Caps coach Peter Laviolette will leave Tuesday's lineup decisions until Tuesday.
"It's always positive when a player is out there," says Laviolette. "In the same sense, it's early in the season and we want to make sure that he is ready to go and doesn't take steps backwards. [Tuesday] for me will determine a lot. Once we have some answers, then we'll talk internally about who is going to fill the spots."
Playing without four regulars on Friday and without five of them on Sunday, the Caps managed to pull three of four possible points from their weekend series with the Sabres. Both games went to the shootout, and the teams split them.
Washington's patchwork lineup was fairly effective for those two games against Buffalo. Nic Dowd and linemates Garnet Hathaway and Carl Hagelin were bumped from fourth- to third-line status, and given the assignment of holding the Taylor Hall-Jack Eichel-Sam Reinhart line in check, and they did so with aplomb. Dowd's line not only held Eichel and Co. off the board at even strength, they also generated a goal of their own in each game.
"The block of five that Washington was putting out to neutralize the Eichel line is absolutely a premier defensive unit in the National Hockey League against anybody," said Sabres coach Ralph Krueger after Sunday's game.
A newly cobbled fourth line of Conor Sheary, Brian Pinho and Daniel Sprong struggled in Friday's game when they were on the ice for two of the Sabres' three goals in that game. Given an opportunity to rebound on Sunday, they did so. The trio was the Caps' most effective line from a puck possession standpoint, and it also generated some scoring chances and five shots on net in less than 10 minutes of work together.
"We let up a couple of goals last game and we weren't too happy about it," says Pinho, who played in his first two regular season NHL games this weekend after making his debut in the League during the playoffs last August. "So we just wanted to play fast and be smart with the puck and get it deep. I think we did a good job of moving our feet and maintaining the puck in the [offensive] zone and creating some chances. Hopefully, we can build off that."
The Caps' established core also came to the fore in the two games the team has played shorthanded. Nicklas Backstrom scored in both games, and John Carlson, T.J. Oshie and Jakub Vrana picked up points in both games as well. And although Vitek Vanecek faced 48 shots in Sunday's game, most were from the perimeter and he had a clear view of most of them as well.
"At 5-on-5, I thought we were okay," says Laviolette of Sunday's game. "I thought we played hard and we were looking to score. There were a lot of shots from [the Sabres] but they were from the outside, and the ones Vitek needed to make a save on he did.
"I'm proud of the way the guys played. Obviously, you'd like the [extra] point, but we had a chance to win it in overtime and didn't get it done. But at the same sense, this early on in the season you look at the effort and you look at the situation. There is a lot to pull from that and then move forward."
Each of Washington's last four games has required more than 60 minutes to settle, and the Caps have never played five straight overtime games at any point in their history.
The Islanders are in the midst of a five-game road trip, a journey that started in New Jersey on Sunday with a 2-0 loss at the hands of the Devils. Four of New York's first five games this season have resulted in shutouts, with the Isles on the winning side twice and the losing side twice.
Islanders goaltender Semyon Varlamov - a former Capital - opened the season with a shutout streak of 142:10 in duration, the eighth longest in league history from the start of the season. Varlamov's shutout run broke Rick DiPietro's franchise record (115:35) scoreless streak to start the season, established in 2003-04.
