After finishing off a quick two-game homestand with a 3-1 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Friday afternoon, the Capitals head up to New York City for the remainder of Thanksgiving weekend. First, they'll finish off a set of back-to-back games with a Saturday matinee match against the New York Rangers. After an off day on Sunday, the Caps will move on to Brooklyn to face the New York Islanders on Monday night.
Braden Holtby made 31 saves to record his eighth win of the season in Friday's won over the Wings. He has won three straight appearances, stopping 90 of the 93 shots he has faced over that span, but the Caps have also played better in front of him. In their first dozen games this season, the Capitals limited the opposition to two or fewer goals on just three occasions. In their last 10 games, they've done so seven times.
For the first time this season, the Caps are carrying a four-game winning streak into Saturday's contest. They also enter the game a single point ahead of the Rangers in the Metropolitan Division standings. Washington has won five of its last six games, and that hot spell coincides with Tom Wilson's return to the Caps' lineup after he sat out the first 16 games of the season because of a league suspension.
The Caps have also won all four games in the current streak without the services of top six forwards Evgeny Kuznetsov and T.J. Oshie, both of whom remain sidelined with upper body injuries.
Wilson has recorded a point in five of the six games he has played, and the Caps are a perfect 5-0 when he does so. He scored the Caps' first goal in both games on their recent homestand, and he has amassed three goals and eight points in half a dozen games since returning to the lineup. Dating back to the end of last season and including the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Wilson now has 11 goals and 27 points in his last 38 games. Wilson totaled 10 goals and 27 points in his first two seasons in the league, playing 149 games over that span.
"You can obviously notice it," says Holtby of Wilson's impact since returning. "The type of player he is - very responsible, high energy, and he's working hard in all situations. You can tell just the fact of our defensive game from when he has come back to where it was, he has the ability to change a team that way. He is obviously chipping in offensively too, but his complete game just brings energy and it brings that level of accountability through our whole lineup because he shows it for himself. He is a leader and he leads by example, and he is an extremely valuable asset on our team."
This weekend is also Washington's annual Mentors' Trip, as the players' dads and mentors are along for a weekend of hockey and fun in the Big Apple. Coming into this weekend of games against two formidable Metropolitan Division foes and doing so with a four-game winning streak, the Caps are also thrilled to have their mentors with them.
"I think it was important [Friday night} to start it off on the right foot," says Wilson, of Friday's victory over Detroit leading into the Mentors' Trip. "It's pretty exciting when the guys get their dads in and around the room and around the game. It's definitely a highlight for most guys, this trip, and we wanted to make sure that we started it off on a strong foot.
"It's going to be fun. We've got to play hockey and have some fun on the side. There's nothing better than having the people that got you to where you are on a trip with you and having some fun."
Like the Caps, the Rangers will be playing for the second time in as many days on Saturday. New York was on the road on Friday afternoon, suffering a 4-0 loss to the Flyers in Philadelphia. Even with Friday's setback to the Flyers, the Rangers are 9-2-1 in their last dozen games and are one of the league's hottest teams coming into Saturday's game.
Saturday's Manhattan matinee is the second meeting this season between the two Metropolitan Division rivals. The Caps hosted New York in Washington on Oct. 17, and they handed the Rangers a 4-3 overtime loss that night, getting the game-winning marker from Matt Niskanen in the extra session.
