Kids In Philly – The Caps are in Philadelphia tonight, set to start a three-game weekend road trip and to see the Flyers for the first time this season.
Last season, both the Capitals and Flyers finished in the bottom half of the NHL in goals against, and both have proven to be much stingier defensively in the early going of 2023-24. Washington finished 18th in the NHL with an average nightly yield of 3.18 goals against last season, and Philadelphia finished 23rd in the same category with 3.37 goals against per game.
This season, Philly ranks eighth in the League at 2.71 – more than half a goal better than last season’s figure – while Washington is right behind them in ninth place at 2.84. Four of the top 10 teams in the category hail from the Metropolitan Division.
“It’s an important game for a lot of reasons,” says Caps’ right wing Tom Wilson. “Obviously, it’s a divisional game. They’re playing well, and we’re playing well, so it’s going to be a high compete, high octane game.
“It’s always fun coming into this building and competing since I’ve been around; it’s always been a fun, high compete type of game. Tonight will definitely be that, and we’ll have to be ready to come into their rink and be ready for whatever they’re going to bring, and stick to the game and structure that we’ve been playing.”
The standings in the Metropolitan Division are tight and getting tighter; the Rangers have come back to earth a bit by dropping three of their last four. They still lead the pack by four points, but the next six teams are separated by six points, and that group includes both Philadelphia (33 points) and Washington (31).
Coming Up – Washington’s ranks of 2023 Calder Cup champions swelled by one on Thursday morning when the team announced the recall of forward Joe Snively from AHL Hershey. In a corresponding roster move, the Caps placed forward Sonny Milano on injured reserve.
In 25 games with Hershey this season, Snively has totaled 21 points (seven goals and 14 assists). During Hershey’s run to its 12th Calder Cup championship last spring, Snively led the Bears in scoring with 15 points (two goals, 13 assists).
“He’s been having a great year in Hershey, and has played here in the past,” says Caps’ coach Spencer Carbery. “I’m very familiar with him and what he’s capable of at the NHL level, and with him playing well, we thought it would be a good opportunity to give him a look.”
Milano (upper body) was injured over the weekend. Snively is likely to start tonight’s game in Milano’s lineup slot on the left side of a line with Evgeny Kuznetsov and T.J. Oshie.
“I think so,” says Carbery. “That’s the way we’ll start, and it gives him a good opportunity to play with some good players and some veteran players in Kuz and Osh. Hopefully it puts him in a spot to set him up for success.”
The Parting Glass – Our sympathies and condolences go out to the Monahan and Geoffrion families and their friends following the sad news of the passing of former Caps’ forward Hartland Monahan over the weekend.
Originally drafted by the California Seals in 1971, Monahan spent part of his first pro season (1971-72) with the Baltimore Clippers of the AHL. He debuted in the NHL for California in 1973-74, getting into one game with the Golden Seals. Dealt to the Rangers during training camp in 1974, he got into six games with the Blueshirts in ’74-75, coming to the Caps in the summer of 1975, via the long defunct intra-league draft.
With Washington in the franchise’s second ever season in 1975-76, Monahan was one of four players to play in all 80 games, a feat no Capital achieved in year one. Monahan also set a franchise rookie record with 29 assists that season, and he finished second on the team in scoring with 46 points.
Monahan had an even better sophomore campaign, scoring 23 goals and recording 50 points in ’76-77, and he missed only one game in that campaign while finishing third on the squad in scoring. Monahan spent only two seasons in Washington, and in addition to his on-ice excellence, he was known and remembered for his willingness to participate in community and charity initiatives in the area. He was traded to Pittsburgh on Oct. 17, 1977, and the Caps got a first-round pick (later traded to Minnesota) in exchange, a pretty good return on an intra-league draft acquisition.
Monahan was part of a sprawling sports family; he was the son-in-law of Hockey Hall of Famer Bernie “Boom Boom” Geoffrion; Monahan married Geoffrion’s daughter Linda in 1973. Geoffrion himself married the daughter of the late Howie Morenz, a Hockey Hall of Famer as well. Geoffrion’s son Danny and grandson Blake had brief NHL careers as well.
The Monahans helped expand that sports family when son Shane went on to play two seasons with MLB’s Seattle Mariners in the late 1990s.
Hartland Monahan played 334 games for six different NHL teams, but played the lion’s share of his career – 159 games – for the Caps in the franchise’s early days. In 2014, an arena in his hometown of Laval, Quebec was named in his honor.
Monahan was 72 at the time of his passing.
In The Nets – Charlie Lindgren gets the net tonight in Philly, and he will be seeking his seventh win of the season. Since he lost on opening night to Pittsburgh on Oct. 13, Lindgren has helped the Caps earn at least a point in seven of his eight starts (6-1-1) since. In his most recent start last Saturday against the Rangers in Washington, Lindgren stopped all 31 shots he faced to record his second shutout of the season, and the fourth of his NHL career.
“He has been phenomenal,” says Carbery. “What I like about Chucky is – especially early in games – he just looks really solid and strong early in games. It’s hard to explain, but it gives you a level of comfort when you’re in games and if you give up a few shots or scoring chances in the first 10 minutes. He just looks very, very confident in those situations, and as a coach, that gives your group a lot of confidence.”
Lifetime against the Flyers, Lindgren is 1-0-1 with a shutout, a 0.48 GAA and a .984 save pct. in two appearances, both starts.
For the Flyers, we are expecting to see Samuel Ersson in net tonight, as Carter Hart is unavailable because of illness. The Flyers have recalled Felix Sandstrom from AHL Lehigh Valley, and they’ve sent defenseman Louis Belpedio to the Phantoms to accommodate that move.
Philly’s fifth-round pick (143rd overall) in the 2018 NHL Draft, Ersson is 11-6-2 over the course of his NHL career, and this season he is 5-3-2 with a shutout, a 2.80 GAA and an .883 save pct.
Ersson will be making his first career appearance against Washington.
All Lined Up – Here is how we believe the Capitals and Flyers might look when they take the ice on Thursday night in Philly:
WASHINGTON
Forwards
8-Ovechkin, 17-Strome, 43-Wilson
91-Snively, 92-Kuznetsov, 77-Oshie
21-Protas, 24-McMichael, 39-Mantha
47-Malenstyn, 26-Dowd, 96-Aube-Kubel
Defensemen
42-Fehervary, 74-Carlson
38-Sandin, 57-van Riemsdyk
6-Edmundson, 3-Jensen
Goaltenders
79-Lindgren
35-Kuemper
Injured
15-Milano (upper body)
19-Backstrom (lower body)
67-Pacioretty (torn Achilles’ tendon)
Scratches
27-Alexeyev
45-Phillips
46-Johansen
PHILADELPHIA
Forwards
71-Foerster, 14-Couturier, 11-Konecny
74-Tippett, 48-Frost, 10-Brink
86-Farabee, 21-Laughton, 89-Atkinson
44-Deslauriers, 25-Poehling, 19-Hathaway
Defensemen
8-York, 6-Sanheim
24-Seeler, 26-Walker
5-Zamula, 55-Ristolainen
Goaltenders
33-Ersson
32-Sandstrom
Injured
27-N. Cates (lower body)
94-Ellis (back)
Scratches
18-M. Staal
62-Lycksell
