Caps Host Blues on Thanksgiving Eve
Washington's season-long homestand continues on Wednesday when the Blues make their lone regular season visit to the District.
© Rob Carr
A long tradition of Capitals home games on Thanksgiving Eve continues on Wednesday when the St. Louis Blues make their only trip into the District this season. The game is the fourth on Washington's current five-game homestand; the Caps are 2-1 in the first three games of the homestand.
Most recently, the Caps suffered a 3-2 setback at the hands of the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday afternoon. The Caps lost that game in the final minute of regulation when Alexander Wennberg scored a power-play goal in the wake of a phantom hi-sticking penalty on Caps center Nicklas Backstrom.
The Caps had a strong start against the Jackets, playing well and owning a territorial and possession advantage over the first half of the first frame. But the game turned into a slog fest thereafter. The two teams combined for just eight shots on net in the second period, and there were no shots for either side for more than seven minutes in the second period.
When Brandon Dubinsky scored for the Jackets just 14 seconds into the third period to tie the game at 2-2, he did so on the first Columbus shot on goal in more than 12 minutes.
"You saw the first period against Columbus [on Sunday]," says Caps right wing Tom Wilson. "We come out and we're all over them. We're flying, we're buzzing on the forecheck and we're making their lives difficult. Then the game takes [on] a bit of a stalemate; and that's dangerous because anything can happen. Teams get bounces or [you take] a penalty and then you're shorthanded and they can score.
Prior to the loss against Columbus, the Caps earned wins over Pittsburgh and Detroit in the first two games of the homestand. The loss to the Jackets marked the second time in less than a week that the Caps couldn't quite close the deal in a game in which they led at the start of the third period. Both of those losses came at the hands of the Blue Jackets.
"They really stick to their systems really well," says Caps defenseman Nate Schmidt of the Blue Jackets. "And I think we can maybe even take a page out of the way that they play and how hard they play. They're very methodical in their game; it's the same thing over and over, which was tough on our [defense] these last two games against them. They made our defense go back and get pucks all game long, and it really didn't allow us to jump up in the play as much as we have been in recent weeks. Those were tough battles. Sometimes in a loss like that, you can learn a lot about your team. I think come St. Louis time, we'll iron out some things before that."
Sunday's loss to the Blue Jackets was Washington's first regulation loss when leading after two periods in more than 20 months. The Caps went 37-0-1 when leading after 40 minutes last season, and their last previous regulation defeat in those circumstances came on March 5, 2015. Playing without captain Alex Ovechkin (lower body) ,Washington led 1-0 over the Minnesota Wild after 40 minutes of play at Verizon Center that night, but ultimately lost 2-1.
The Caps are now 45-1-2 when leading after 40 minutes since the start of last season, but two of their three losses have come this week, in their last four games.
"I think we just need to continue to play 60 minutes and to dictate the game," says Wilson. "When we get up a goal, just continue to push forward and forward and forward because if we're playing our four-line game with speed and forechecking well, it's tough for another team to get anything going. But once that game takes on that stalemate and slows down a little bit against a team like Columbus, they have skilled forwards and that's a little bit dangerous.
"We just have to play our game and dictate the pace and push the pace and if we do that I think we'll be a little bit better off."
With two days of practice since then, the Caps have worked on tightening up the areas that can use some work. That includes special teams, and rushes at both ends of the rink.
"We've had too many chances [against], odd-man rushes and things like that," says Caps defenseman Karl Alzner. "That's the way the game goes; guys are jumping in the play more. But our game itself has been good, but there are areas where we could be better. That's why we're frustrated, because we're a team that expects so much from ourselves. Even though we have a good record, a winning record, it's not enough for us. So maybe that's why it feels worse than it is."
Washington had a season-high five-game winning streak that ran from Oct. 29-Nov. 5. But since that streak ended, the Caps have been a rather ordinary 3-3-1. They erupted for seven goals in a 7-1 win over the Penguins a week ago, but have scored a combined total of just eight goals in their other six games over that span.
"We went through almost the ideal season last year and it still didn't work out for us," says Alzner. "It's weird; you have all these thoughts going through your head like, 'We don't have to win 60 games.' It doesn't matter in the end, because you're still going to have to play better in the playoffs. There are a lot of ups and downs when you come off a season like that because we expect it. But at the same time, it's not necessary. We want to play good, have a good foundation to our hockey game and stay healthy and go from there."
The Blues are heading into town on the back end of a set of back-to-back games. St. Louis was in Boston on Tuesday night, where it earned a 4-2 win over the Bruins. The Blues fell behind 2-1 in the second of Tuesday's game against Boston, surrendering a power-play goal in the first and a shorthanded goal in the second, but they scored twice late in the second to take a 3-2 lead into the third. An empty-netter late sealed the deal and ended St. Louis' four-game road slide.
After finishing a compact two-game road trip to the eastern seaboard against the Caps in Washington, the Blues return home for a five-game homestand. St. Louis is 8-1-2 on home ice this season.
St. Louis started the campaign well enough on the road, going 2-1-1 in four October road games. But the Blues lost each of their first four road games this month, getting outscored by a whopping 22-7 in the process.
Not As Unfamiliar As You'd Think -Although the Capitals and the St. Louis Blues play in opposite conferences and only face one another twice a season, Washington and St. Louis are actually a bit more familiar with one another as they come into Wednesday night's game at Verizon Center.
Both of the two meetings between the two clubs last season came in the final nine games of the regular season, and the Caps and Blues went head-to-head twice during the 2016-17 preseason, including a game at Sprint Center in Kansas City. So setting aside the 2016 Stanley Cup playoffs, tonight's game will be the fifth for Washington against St. Louis in the Caps' 35 games.
"Our staff puts in as much time if we've played them five times or if we would've played them 10 times," says Caps coach Barry Trotz. "But you get a little more familiar with tendencies because we've played them a little bit more. Obviously with [associate coach] Mike Yeo coming in, there are a few different types of tendencies, but not a lot. Their team is pretty well the same. They have an identity, they're a strong forechecking team, they have good structure, their [defensemen] are active off the bluelines, [they have] a good power play obviously, especially on the road here.
"They've changed their team a little bit. They used to be a really big, heavy team with a lot of grinding type guys. I think they're transitioning to a little more speed. They've still got their grind and their size, but they've added the [Robby] Fabbris and the [Nail] Yakupvos and the [Jaden] Schwartzes and the [Vladimir] Tarasenkos. [Tarasenko] is a tank. He's not overly big, but he is strong as can be.
"So I think they're transitioning a little bit, but at the same time I think the whole league is. I think we are. St. Louis is probably no different."
The Blues are coming into town on the heels of a 4-2 victory over the Bruins in Boston on Tuesday night. That win was the fourth straight for the Blues, and it also ended a four-game road losing streak during which the Blues were outscored 22-7.
"They've got some big guys, but they've also got a lot of guys who can scoot and make a lot of plays," says Caps defenseman Nate Schmidt. "It's going to be a little bit different game. Some guys will like to chip and chase, but they have some guys who like to wheel and deal in the offensive zone. Defensively, we have our work cut out for us here."
Getting Healthier -Caps center Lars Eller took part in today's optional morning skate and he will return to the Washington lineup tonight.
Eller suffered the injury on his first shift in Friday's 1-0 win over the Detroit Red Wings at Verizon Center last Friday. He was the first of three forwards Washington lost in the first period of that game, and Eller missed the Caps' subsequent game against Columbus, a 3-2 loss on Sunday afternoon.
"I'm better," says Eller. "I feel like I'm ready to play."
Eller also indicated that his injury did not originate in the game against the Wings, but rather it was aggravated in that game. The origin of the ailment actually dates back to his days with the Montreal Canadiens.
"It's been a little on and off over the years, but something that - most of the time - didn't keep me from playing. But the Detroit game was something where I just couldn't push through it, so there was no point in trying anymore. But I've done a lot of work and a lot of treatment, and now I feel good again."
Caps right wing T.J. Oshie also left that game against the Wings. He suffered an upper body injury that has him sidelined on a week-to-week basis. Oshie skated before his teammates on Wednesday at Kettler, but this was just a guy with an upper body injury giving his lower body some needed work. Oshie is still out week-to-week and the timetable for his return has not been altered.
First Strike - Washington has scored the game's first goal in six straight games and in 15 of its 18 games this season.
"This group is really good at whatever we put emphasis on," says Trotz. "They usually will follow through with. And so we talked about it. It's easier to play from ahead than behind and you give yourself a better chance. It's just the mindset of 'we're going to do things right off the hop,' and we're finding the net a little bit more.
"Sometimes you try too hard to do something and it doesn't happen and you get frustrated. I just think they said, 'Let's just make sure we're ready to go.' And not that maybe we weren't ready to go, but maybe it wasn't the urgency because we had good confidence in our game that we could come back. I just think we put an emphasis on it because it's hard to trail in this league. The parity is so good, and teams are so structured and teams play well. You run into a goaltender who's playing very well and you don't get that opportunity to maybe come back from a few goals [down]. That's probably just putting the focus on it."
Last season, the Caps posted an impressive 34-2-2 record in the 38 games in which they netted the first goal. They've already suffered more losses when scoring first this season (10-3-2).
"You don't pay a lot of attention to it, but you always try to score first," says Caps right wing Tom Wilson. "It gives you the upper hand and obviously your record probably shows that. But right now for us, it's going into the third with the lead and not being able to get the job done. That's what we're focused on. Scoring first is always a plus and definitely gets you going. But usually there's a lot of time after that to be played and you've got to make sure that you're playing the rest of the game good as well."
Happy Birthday, Nicky -Caps center Nicklas Backstrom celebrates his 29th birthday today, and that always reminds us of his 20th birthday, during his rookie season of 2007-08.
On the day that Bruce Boudreau took Washington's coaching reins and coached in his first NHL game, Backstrom - who skated on the team's fourth line that day with Donald Brashear and Matt Bradley - scored the game-winning goal in overtime against the Flyers in Philadelphia. Here's a snippet from the Postgame Notebook that appeared in this space on that day nine years ago, and happy birthday Nicklas!
Shave Every Day and You'll Always Look Keen - A quick look at Nicklas Backstrom's face will tell you that his cheeks haven't seen much shaving cream during his 20 years on planet Earth. But Backstrom got a face full of Foamy here in Philly on Friday.
Minutes after setting up the Swedish rookie for the first overtime game-winning tally of his NHL career, Caps left wing Alex Ovechkin snuck up on Backstrom, who is celebrating his 20thbirthday today. Ovie wound up and caught the kid flush in the face with a shaving cream pie. After enjoying the first multiple-point game of his 22-game NHL career, Backstrom found himself peeling pillows of the stuff off his face, out of his eyes and off his hair.
Ovechkin was on the receiving end of a Jeff Halpern shaving cream pie in Boston late in the 2005-06 season, on the night he reached the 100-point plateau.
"Halpy [got me]," remembers Ovechkin. "That was shocking. So I got [Backstrom], and he was shocked, too."
Backstrom will take all the shaving cream his teammates can fire his way if they follow three-point efforts and Washington wins.
"It was my best game in points," says Backstrom. "I scored one and had two assists. I actually feel pretty good and the whole team is feeling good, I think. We played pretty good the whole game."
Ever had a better birthday than this one, Nicklas?
"Oh, I don't think so. I think this is my best one."
Westward Leaning - The Caps are 6-2 against Western Division opponents this season. They're 5-3-2 against their fellow Eastern Conference denizens.
All Lined Up - Here is how we expect the Capitals to look when they take to the ice against the Blues on Wednesday and this is how the Blues looked for Tuesday night's tilt against the Bruins in Boston:
WASHINGTON
Forwards
90-Johansson, 19-Backstrom, 14-Williams
8-Ovechkin, 92-Kuznetsov, 65-Burakovsky
82-Sanford, 83-Beagle, 10-Connolly
26-Winnik, 20-Eller, 43-Wilson
Defensemen
9-Orlov, 74-Carlson
27-Alzner, 2-Niskanen
44-Orpik, 88-Schmidt
Goaltenders
70-Holtby
31-Grubauer
Scratches
4-Chorney
Injured
77-Oshie (upper body, week-to-week)
ST. LOUIS
Forwards
17-Schwartz, 26-Stastny, 57-Perron
15-Fabbri, 12-Lehtera, 91-Taransenko
23-Jaskin, 21-Bergland, 64-Yakupov
10-Upshall, 28-Brodziak, 75-Reaves
Defensemen
19-Bouwmeester, 27-Pietrangelo
4-Gunnarson, 22-Shattenkirk
55-Parayko, 41-Bortuzzo
Goaltenders
34-Allen
40-Hutton
Scratches
18-Rattie
48-Lindbohm
Injured
6-Edmundson (upper body)
20-Steen (undisclosed)
Stick tap to Carter Myers for some of the statistical data contained herein.
