Caps Tangle with Pens on Wednesday
Caps face Metro rivals in middle match of five-game homestand as they seek to string wins together for the first time in 2018-19
By
Mike Vogel
WashingtonCaps.com
Washington's five-game homestand continues on Wednesday when the Pittsburgh Penguins make the first of their two regular season visits to the District. The two Metropolitan Division rivals enter Wednesday's game with identical records, and they're two of four teams tied for the second spot in the Metro as of Tuesday morning, three points behind the front-running New York Islanders.
The Pens supply the opposition for the middle match of the Capitals' homestand, and Washington will be seeking to string together consecutive victories for the first time this season. With a 4-2 win over the Edmonton Oilers on Monday, the Caps are 1-0-1 on the homestand to date.
After getting nicked for three or more goals against in four straight games and eight of their previous nine, the Caps turned in a stronger defensive performance against the Oilers.
"We really talked about some team defense," says Caps right wing T, J, Oshie, "and getting the things that have given us success in the past away from the puck - and at times, with the puck - back into our game. That's everyone coming back and stopping in the house, as we call it, in front of the net there defensively, and then branching out from there. And offensively, making good puck decisions and realizing at big moments of the game and at certain moments, you just have to get the puck in - after we score or after they score, or maybe after a big momentum shift. Tonight, we did a better job of that. It's still an area where I think we can improve."
The first Edmonton goal came on an Oilers power play, and the second came three seconds after the expiration of a man advantage. The Caps were buttoned down nicely at five-on-five, and Pheonix Copley (31 saves) was strong in net for Washington.
"We've been a little bit loose in our own end," says Caps winger Devante Smith-Pelly, "so we wanted to tighten that up and we knew specifically with Connor [McDavid] out there and [Leon] Draisaitl and those guys, we'd have no choice or they'd make us pay. We did a good job."
The Caps entered Monday night's game ranked 30th in the league in blocked shots, an area in which Caps coach Todd Reirden recently noted he'd like to see more commitment. He saw it in Monday's game, as 11 different Caps combined to block a season-high 23 shots, led by Michal Kempny's six.
"I thought they did a good job with sticks," says Reirden, "getting in shot lanes as best we could and tying up sticks around the net. And then when we did break down, I thought Copley was solid. He made some really good saves. But I thought there was more commitment up top, blocking shots."
Now the Caps face a heated rival in Pittsburgh, facing their first Metro foe in eight games. How do they use Monday's performance as traction in stringing together wins for the first time this season?
"Playing how we played [Monday night] - tight," says Smith-Pelly. "Making their defense work to get it out, making plays, and just doing the right things."
Wednesday's game is the second meeting of the season between the Caps and the Penguins. Washington visited Pittsburgh for the Pens' home and season opener on Oct. 4 when the two rivals engaged in a wild and wooly throwback to 1980s hockey. Pittsburgh prevailed 7-6 in overtime in that one, winning on a Kris Letang power-play goal in the extra session.
Another shootout on Wednesday is entirely possible; the Caps rank first in the league and the Pens third in goals per game while both teams reside in the bottom third of the NHL in goals against.
"It's huge," says Smith-Pelly of Wednesday's game. "Points are important at this time of the year, at any time of the year. So we want to get as many wins and as many points as possible. Obviously, we haven't won a couple in a row, so it's important to try to win three, four, five in a row and separate from the pack and get our game in the right direction."
Pittsburgh roared out to a strong 6-1-2 start to the season, but the Pens will be lugging a four-game losing streak (0-3-1) when they travel to the District. Three of those four losses came on home ice, and two of them came at the hands of Metro Division rivals, the Islanders and the Devils.
Most recently, the Pens absorbed a 5-1 loss to New Jersey on Monday night. In the wake of that setback, Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan made some line adjustments at his team's Tuesday practice session, changing each of his top three forward lines.
"Teams go through ups and downs," says Pens coach Mike Sullivan. "Teams go through struggles. It's a hard league; it's hard to win. The team [New Jersey] we played [Monday] night for example, I think lose six out of seven, and they're a good team. I just think there is a fine line between winning and losing, and we just have to remember what our identity is and how we have to play in order to be successful."
