Caps Hope Home Cooking Helps
Having lost three of four and struggling to score, the Caps open a season-long five-game homestand on Wednesday against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
© Patrick Smith/Getty Images
By
Mike Vogel
WashingtonCaps.com
Washington opens up a five-game homestand and finishes off its third set of back-to-back games on Wednesday night against the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Caps were in Columbus on Tuesday night where they finished off a stretch of three straight road games with a 2-1 overtime loss to the Blue Jackets.
On the heels of Saturday's 5-1 beating at the hands of the Hurricanes in Carolina, Tuesday's performance in Columbus showed some progress for the Capitals.
"That was a great game," says Caps goaltender Philipp Grubauer, who started each of Washington's last two games. "We improved in all areas I think, and played a 60-minute game. They didn't have too many chances other than on the power play there in the last period and the one chance where they came down Broadway there. We stayed put of the box most of the game, which helps. Their power play was up there [atop the league's ledger], so we knew we couldn't take too many silly penalties. It was good. We should have won the game."
Although saddled with a loss, the Caps picked up a standings point by virtue of the overtime loss.
"You're never happy with a loss," says Washington right wing Justin Williams. "Was it better than Carolina? Yes. Was it good enough? No."
It's hard to win a game when you only score one goal, and the Caps were holding on for dear life during much of the third period. From the start of the third period until the end of the game 37 seconds into overtime, the Capitals were outshot by 15-3 and were out-attempted 30-11. Washington won only four of 15 face-offs (27%) over that span, and Cam Atkinson's game-winning goal came off a lost defensive zone draw.
Washington has now lost three of its last four games (1-2-1), and it has scored a grand total of five goals in those games. Only three of those five goals were scored at even strength.
"I think we can be a little more aggressive and manage the puck a little bit better," says Caps center Nicklas Backstrom, who scored Washington's lone goal in Tuesday's loss. "A lot of times we fumbled with it in the neutral zone. You can't allow that against good teams like Columbus that will take advantage of it and Pittsburgh [Wednesday]."
Meanwhile, the Caps' power play has scored in only four of 15 games this season, dipping down to 12.5% on the season. The Caps are 1-for-19 (5.3%) on the power play in seven November games, and they've gone without a power-play goal in each of their last five games.
"I feel like we have to shoot a little bit more," says Backstrom, when asked about the Caps' power play struggles. "And we have to hit the net more. I feel like we've been shooting but missing the net. If we can hit the net a little bit more, we can get some second chances. Usually, when you shoot on the power play, that's when it starts to open up. That's when you get guys running around."
Wednesday's game against the Penguins marks the second of four meetings between the two Metropolitan Division rivals this season. The Caps visited Pittsburgh just over a month ago on the opening night of the 2016-17 season for both teams. Pittsburgh prevailed 3-2 in a shootout in that game.
The Capitals have won only five of their last 18 meetings (5-10-3) with the Penguins dating back to January of 2012. Five of the Caps' last nine wins over the Penguins have come via the shutout route. Caps captain Alex Ovechkin is without a point in each of his last six games against the Pens; the Caps are 2-2-2 in those games.
"It's always a tough game against the Penguins," says Caps coach Barry Trotz. "They're playing fast, they've got good balance, they trust how they play, they play a full 200 feet and they don't give you a whole lot. They're good defensively, and you've got to play a whole 60 minutes against them."
While the Caps were in Columbus facing the Blue Jackets on Tuesday night, the Penguins were in D.C. relaxing on the night prior to the game. Pittsburgh has been idle since Saturday when it finished off a three-game homestand with a 4-1 triumph over the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Pens are averaging 32.3 shots on net per game this season, the fourth best rate in the league. Pittsburgh has eclipsed the 40-shot mark in each of its last two games, pouring a combined total of 90 pucks in on opposing goaltenders.
At the other end of the ice, the Penguins have permitted an average of 33.7 shots on net per game. Only the Maple Leafs (34.3) allow more shots on a nightly basis.
Pittsburgh is 21-5-1 in its last 27 games against Metropolitan Division opponents, including an unblemished 3-0 mark this season. Pens captain Sidney Crosby has found the scoresheet in 16 of his last 17 games against Metro foes, totaling a dozen goals and 25 points in those contests.
Penguins goaltender Matt Murray has won 11 straight starts dating back to last March 6. That winning streak matches the second longest run in Pittsburgh's franchise history; Marc-Andre Fleury won 11 in a row six years ago. With a 14-game winning streak in 1993, Tom Barrasso is the all-time standard bearer for the Pens in that regard.
Better, But Not Good Enough - In the wake of an ugly 5-1 loss to the Hurricanes in Carolina on Tuesday - one of only four losses by as many as four goals in their last 155 regular season games - the Capitals and coach Barry Trotz were seeking a strong bounce-back game in their Tuesday night tilt against the Blue Jackets in Columbus.
For the second straight game, the Caps were limited to 22 or fewer shots. For the second straight game, they scored just one goal. The result was a 2-1 overtime loss to the Jackets, and a rare defeat in a game in which Washington held a lead with 10 minutes left in the third period.
"You're never happy with a loss," said Caps right wing Justin Williams after the game. "Was it better than Carolina? Yes. Was it good enough? No."
Nicklas Backstrom scored Washington's lone goal, and seconds after Columbus defenseman Zach Werenski tied the game late, Backstrom appeared to have restored the Capitals' lead with a lunch-bucket effort on a prolonged goalmouth scramble. Alas, a video review revealed T.J. Oshie to be offside on the play, nullifying the goal. The Caps lost on Cam Atkinson's goal in the first minute of overtime.
While Washington played, in Trotz's words, "a real good road game" for 40 minutes, the Caps fell out of character in the third and probably got what they deserved in the end. They were outshot 15-3 and out-attempted 30-11 in the third period and overtime, and they won just four of 15 face-offs during that stretch. Atkinson's goal came three seconds after Brandon Dubinsky won a left dot draw from Backstrom in the Washington zone.
The Caps failed to record a shot on net for the final 10 minutes and 11 seconds of play. After getting a season-low 21 shots on net Saturday in Carolina, they manahed just 22 shots on net in the loss to the Blue Jackets.
"We played better as a team, absolutely," says Backstrom. "I thought we played better and created more chances. It was just a little unlucky we couldn't get two points here."
Dry Gulch -Washington has now scored a grand total of five goals in its last four games, and only three of those goals were scored at five-on-five. The Caps have dipped to 17th in the league in goals per game (they finished second last season) and their power play has plummeted to a tie for 24th place in the circuit with a success rate of just 11.9% on the season (they finished fifth last season).
"It's a team game," says Caps right wing Tom Wilson. "The power play has been so good to us for so many years and so many games, and right now we just need to win the games with five-on-five scoring. It hasn't been good enough. There are a lot of guys that will be the first guys to tell you they need to chip in, myself included.
"It's one of those times in hockey where there's a little adversity and you've got to bear down; maybe you're gripping the stick a little tight. But at the end of the day, it's a pretty good life and it's a good league. We've got to find a way to come to the rink every day, do our job and get the puck in the back of the net."
This is Washington's most prolonged offensive slump in the two-plus years of the Barry Trotz administration. There is too much offensive talent on this team for these struggles to continue for much longer, but right now the Caps have a number of proven scorers who are in the depths of lengthy personal scoring droughts.
"It's certainly no secret that we're not exactly filling the net right now," says Caps right wing Justin Williams. "So you try and simplify things as best as you can. You try to win 1-0 games, 2-1 games, and you play smart until it comes back. And obviously it will. But you go through a little lull here and sometimes it's good for the team to come out and get out of a little slump, but we know we have to work hard doing it."
The Caps were seven minutes away from winning a 1-0 game in Columbus on Tuesday night, but instead they fell 2-1 in overtime. Given that they've scuffled to score for a few games now, can Tuesday's loss be viewed somewhat positively, given that they managed to scrape a point out of a game in which they scored only one goal?
"I'm not sure," says Williams. "You stay with the process. I've certainly been on teams before that have had problems scoring goals. You feel like a big burden is on your shoulders like I do and a lot of guys do. But it's a good feeling when you work hard through it and then it comes through. You can't turn the other way; we need to face it head-on. And I think we're stepping in the right direction."
Caps Killer Cam - Including his overtime game-winner on Tuesday, Atkinson now has eight goals and a dozen points in 14 career contests against Washington. He has scored more goals against the Caps than he has against any other foe.
By The Numbers -Matt Niskanen led the Caps with 25:29 in ice time … Alex Ovechkin led the Caps with four shots on net and T.J. Oshie led the way with seven shot attempts … John Carlson led the Caps with three blocked shots … Jay Beagle won six of nine face-offs (67%).
