A Six-Pack To Go -Washington just ran through a stretch of six games in 10 nights, winning all six. Their six-game winning streak started on Thanksgiving Eve at home against Florida and matches their longest winning run of the season, a six-game jaunt from Oct. 25-Nov. 9.
Looking back, Washington's Nov. 23 matinee against Vancouver is the middle match in between two stretches of six games in ten nights. In the earlier stretch of six in ten from Nov. 11-20, the Caps were 3-2-1, with two of the wins achieved in the shootout.
The main difference between the two stretches? The first required travel for every game; a tapestry of one-game homestands and one-game road trips. This most recent stretch had two consecutive home games attached to a four-game trip, which is much easier to deal with in many regards. Either way, reeling off six wins in 10 nights is an impressive feat.
"I can't," says Caps coach Todd Reirden, asked if he could recall any prior association with a perfect six-in-ten run. "I've been fortunate in my time in the National Hockey League as a coach to be part of some good teams. I don't remember runs like that.
"It hasn't been easy. It's the depth we have, from our top line to our fourth-line guys, and contributions from all six defense and both goaltenders. It's what it's all about, and then it's about not letting down the guy that's sitting next to you. That's what we've established now, and we're playing close to our identity. We've still got a lot of work to do, but after 30-plus games here it's a pretty good indication that our team's headed in the right direction."
Light Of The Pacific - With Friday's win, the Caps have swept the season's series with the Ducks for the first time since 2014-15. The Caps are 8-0-3 against Pacific opponents with only five games remaining.
Flying V -Vrana's game-winner is his 15th of the season, all scored at even strength. He is now tied with Edmonton's Leon Draisiatl and Boston's Brad Marchand for the league lead in that department. One of only 11 players in the league with 15 or more goals, Vrana has by far the lowest average ice time of the group. He averages 14:46 per game, well behind 10th place Jean-Gabriel Pageau (18:04). Draisaitl's 22:44 per night tops that list.
Draw Man - Collectively, the Caps had a dismal night on the face-off dot, winning only 36 percent of the game's 53 face-offs. But Lars Eller was the exception to the team's draw woes, winning 11 of 16 (69 percent). Now at 54.4 percent on the season, Eller ranks 18th in the league among centers with 350 or more faceoffs.
Down On The Farm - The AHL Hershey Bears picked up a 2-1 road victory over the Phantoms in Lehigh Valley on Friday night. The win halted a seven-game road slide for the Bears.
Matt Moulson opened the scoring at 5:50 of the first, staking Hershey to a 1-0 lead with his sixth goal of the season. Philippe Maillet and Liam O'Brien assisted.
The game was tied 1-1 heading into the second, and Joe Snively netted what would prove to be the deciding goal at 14:11 of the middle period. Mike Sgarbossa and Garrett Pilon supplied the help on Snively's sixth of the season.
Vitek Vanecek made 25 saves to improve to 5-4-1. The 10-9-2-3 Bears are back in action on Saturday night at Giant Center, hosting the Phantoms on the second of a home-and-home set.
Down a level, the ECHL South Carolina Stingrays made it a Friday night clean sweep on the road with a 2-0 blanking of the Florida Everblades. Matthew Weis scored in the first and Mark Cooper added a power-play goal in the third to support Parker Milner's fourth shutout of the season. Half of Milner's eight wins (8-0-1-0) are of the whitewash variety.
The 16-2-1-0 Stingrays remain in Florida for a Saturday night rematch with the Everblades.
By The Numbers - Dmitry Orlov led the Caps with 22:43 in ice time … Alex Ovechkin and John Carlson had five shots on net each to lead the Caps, and Carlson's eight shot attempts were tops on the team … Tom Wilson led the Caps with seven hits … Michal Kempny, Jonas Siegenthaler and Evgeny Kuznetsov each blocked two shots to pace the Caps … Washington combined to win only eight of the 37 face-offs (22 percent) Eller did not take.