Something Wild – The Caps open a three-game homestand and their 12-game November slate of games on this Sunday afternoon when they welcome the Minnesota Wild to the building on F St. Washington carries a modest three-game winning streak into today’s game, and it is coming in on the heels of its first win of the season against a Western Conference opponent, Thursday’s 4-3 triumph over the Predators in Music City.
Today, the Caps take on the second-best team in the Western Conference in the Wild. And Minnesota has made its way to the upper reaches of the Western standings despite playing 10 of its first 15 games on the road. After the Wild finishes its current two-game trip, it will have played 12 of its first 17 games of the season on the road. Minnesota carries a 5-3-2 road mark into today’s contest.
High Five – Coming into today’s game, the Caps are averaging 2.75 goals per game at 5-on-5 this season, third in the NHL behind only Colorado (3.37) and Tampa Bay (2.77). In their last three games – all victories – the Caps have scored 10 goals at 5-on-5, nearly a third of their total for the season.
The recent outburst of 5-on-5 scoring coincides with the returns of Pierre-Luc Dubois and Justin Sourdif from illness. Since those two centers returned to the lineup for the Caps’ Oct. 24 game with Buffalo, the Washington forward lines have remained then same, and those four line combinations – as they’re currently constituted (see lines below) – have outscored the opposition by a combined 7-2 at 5-on-5.
“I think we found a little bit of continuity and some consistency, and that helps to go be able to have some success, win a few games, go back to the well with the same lineup,” says Caps coach Spencer Carbery. “Knock on hard plastic, no injuries [too], so it so it enables you to go back to those combinations. And I think too, the way that we started the season and how it's evolved a little bit of finding some chemistry with [Dylan Strome], I think has been a big part of that with [Alex] Tuch and [Jordan] Kyrou because it's had a ripple effect, right? It got [Strome] going, and then it also got [Kyrou] going; [Tuch] was kind of going when he was playing on Dubie’s line; he looked good, so that had a ripple effect all of a sudden now.
“And then Dubie going back with [Aliaksei Protas] has helped Pro get his game going. And even [Ilya Protas] with [Alex Ovechkin] has been a solid line for us. So yeah, we've been happy with the way that they've been rolling thus far.”
The other aspect of the Washington offense that has been elevated of late is the scoring from the team’s back end. On the season, the Caps have amassed 30 points (eight goals, 22 assists) from their defense in the first dozen games of the season. But in the last three games, they’ve stacked up 13 points (two goals, 11 assists), which is nearly half of their total for the season to date.
“I think they’ve been productive when we’ve needed them to be, and they’ve made some big plays,” says Carbery of his team’s defense corps. “So, whether that’s Cole [Hutson] in Nashville or [Jakob Chychrun] power play wise, they’ve done a good job back there contributing. And obviously, [Jack] St. Ivany with the start that he has had production wise.”
Sunday Swap – The Caps made a minor deal on Sunday morning, sending their seventh-round choice in the 2027 NHL Draft to New Jersey for goaltender Remi Poirier. The 25-year-old Poirier was a sixth-round (185th overall) choice of the Dallas Stars in the 2020 NHL Draft.
In four seasons (137 games) with the AHL Texas Stars, Poirier has fashioned a 70-51-14 record with six shutouts, a 2.76 GAA and a .908 save pct.
When Dallas tried to slip Poirier back down to the Stars at the end of training camp in late September, the Devils intervened, claiming him off waivers to support their tandem of veteran Jake Allen and unproven youngster Nico Daws at the time. Since then, the Devils have carried Poirier on their roster, although he has yet to play in the NHL.
On Oct. 23, the Devils used Daws as part of a package to obtain goaltender Connor Hellebuyck from the Winnipeg Jets, and with a tandem of Hellebuyck and Allen now, Poirier becomes redundant as a member of the Devils.
Washington lost Clay Stevenson to the Jets, who claimed the goaltender off waivers from the Caps on Sept. 28 while Hellebuyck was parked in neutral awaiting a trade. Having lost their No. 3 organizational netminder to Winnipeg on waivers, the Caps appear to have filled that hole with Poirier, who will remain on the Caps’ active roster for now.
“For the time being,” says Carbery of Poirier being on the Washington roster. “I’m not going to set a definitive timeline on how long that’ll be or what that’ll look like, but we acquire a goaltender that has had a lot of success in the American Hockey League. And with losing Clay on waivers organizationally, I think we were just looking for someone that we think could be a good fit and acquiring that player.”
Defenseman Dylan McIlrath was designated as a non-roster player and was placed on waivers.
In The Nets – Charlie Lindgren has authored two of the victories in Washington’s current three-game winning streak, but Logan Thompson is between the pipes this afternoon for the Capitals. Thompson has won two of his last three starts and he will be seeking his sixth win of the season. His next victory will move him past Pat Riggin (67) and into eighth place on Washington’s all-time wins list.
Lifetime against Minnesota, Thompson is 4-1-0 in six appearances – five starts – with a 1.45 GAA and a .948 save pct.
Thompson made his NHL debut against Minnesota in relief of Marc-Andre Fleury in St. Paul on March 10, 2021.
For the Wild, 23-year-old Swedish workhorse Jesper Wallstedt starts for the 14th time in Minnesota’s 16 games this season. Wallstedt leads the NHL in appearances and starts (13 each) and is second in wins (eight). He will be facing the Capitals for the first time in his NHL career today.
All Down The Line – Here’s how the Caps and Wild might look on Sunday afternoon in DC:
WASHINGTON
Forwards
89-Tuch, 17-Strome, 25-Kyrou
21-A. Protas, 80-Dubois, 43-Wilson
8-Ovechkin, 62-I. Protas, 72-Beauvillier
22-Jenner, 34-Sourdif, 9-Leonard
Defense
6-Chychrun, 3-Roy
42-Fehervary, 27-Liljegren
44-Hutson, 29-St. Ivany
Goaltenders
48-Thompson
79-Lindgren
Injured/Out
38-Sandin (lower body)
73-Desharnais (appendectomy)
Healthy Extras
1-Poirier
53-Frank
63-Miroshnichenko
MINNESOTA
Forwards
97-Kaprizov, 14-Eriksson Ek, 12-Boldy
49-Shabanov, 22-Yurov, 13-Trenin
20-Coleman, 47-McCarron, 10-Brink
78-Sturm, 38-Hartman, 19-Pitlick
Defense
43-Hughes, 25-Brodin
3-Maatta, 24-Bogosian
26-Kiersted, 82-Spacek
Goaltenders
30-Wallstedt
31-Pickard
Injured/out
7-Faber (fractured skull)
17-M. Foligno (lower body)
32-Gustavsson (hip)
46-Spurgeon (undisclosed)
71-N. Foligno (upper body)
Healthy Extras
18-Shaw
34-Crotty
