Blues Comin’ On – Following the Caps’ 3-1 loss to Calgary here on Tuesday night, Caps coach Spencer Carbery noted that the Flames – who entered the game one point out of a playoff position in the Western Conference – were reminiscent of last season’s Capitals at a similar stage of the campaign.
“I would compare this team to us last year at the same exact time,” said Carbery. “Defend really, really hard, don’t score a ton, but play structured, aren’t going to give you a bunch, aren’t going to beat themselves. And that’s what you saw tonight.”
Two nights later, the Caps can likely expect to face a similar foe in the St. Louis Blues, who are here tonight for the middle match of Washington’s five-game homestand. After pulling points in five of six games (3-1-2) on a just completed homestand, the Blues still find themselves five points south of the playoff cutline in the Western Conference, and with three teams – Utah, Calgary and Vancouver – to climb over to get there.
With only 23 games remaining, the math becomes daunting, even more so when the Blues’ schedule is factored in. After tonight’s single-game journey to the District, St. Louis heads back home to host Los Angeles before embarking upon a six-game road trip. The Blues will be in the midst of that trip when the NHL’s trade deadline rolls around, just over a week from now.
“[They’re a] team that's playing better of late,” says Carbery of the Blues. “And similar to Calgary; probably everything that's coming out of their locker room is at this point – every game – the season’s on the line, similar to us last year, so it's going to be similar.
“And I think too – I was thinking about it this morning – playing these West teams too plays into it as well. [Pittsburgh] is different. We know exactly what to expect from Pitt or whoever in the Eastern [Conference]. Tampa, [Saturday’s opponent], we're going to know exactly what to expect, we've seen enough of them, we know their personnel.
“When you play these Western teams that you don't see very often [it’s different]. Edmonton is a one off; everybody knows Edmonton, we know exactly what we're getting with Edmonton. But Utah, Calgary, St Louis tonight, it's a different beast, and we need to be ready for that. And I didn't think we did a very good job against Utah, and I didn't think we did a very good job against Calgary.”
The Caps will seek to shake off Tuesday’s setback to the Flames, something they’ve handled with aplomb throughout the season to date. Washington is 16-2-1 in games immediately following losses this season, and it is 9-0-1 in the last 10 instances.
I Will Stay – While many of his teammates were enjoying some fine tropical weather outside the US during the NHL’s recent Four Nations break, Washington winger Ethen Frank was making a quartet of trips with a U-Haul between Hershey and Northern Virginia, running back and forth with his girlfriend to bring their belongings a couple hours south, where they will be living for at least the remainder of this season.
Recalled from AHL Hershey on Jan. 10 after two and a half strong seasons with the Bears, Frank made his presence felt and known right away in Washington, earning points in each of his first three NHL games (two goals, one assist) and displaying the value his world class speed brings to the table.
Now 17 games deep into his NHL career, Frank has continued to play consistently well and has gained the confidence of the coaching staff. Recently added to the team’s second power play unit, Frank has now had a run of seven straight games with 11 or more minutes of ice time, including a single-game career best of 16 minutes this past Saturday in Pittsburgh.
Ascending to the NHL is one thing, but being able to remain in the world’s best hockey league is quite another altogether. Frank, who just celebrated his 27th birthday just over three weeks ago, has stayed in the Caps’ lineup for 17 straight games going into tonight’s game with the Blues. Playing for the League’s best team, that’s no small feat, either.
“Just determination,” says Frank. “It’s hard to stick in the League, and I think just a little bit of desperation and trying to prove myself, that I can play at this level and hang around this skill level and speed level. I’ve just been working every day before and after practice, trying to get my touches down and keep my pace really high.”
Frank is typically one of the last players off the ice after practice; he stays out to work with ace skills coach Kenny McCudden. It’s been more than six weeks now since Frank was recalled, and he has drawn verbal praise from Carbery more than once over that span.
“It helps a lot,” says Frank of gaining the confidence of the staff. “That’s obviously where it starts; they’re the ones that have the control to put me on the ice. And so that’s probably my number one thing, just gaining trust from them. I want to be a reliable player and somebody that they can count on. I’m taking it slowly, day-by-day, shift-by-shift. And yeah, it’s been going well.”
One of the primary indicators of how well it’s going is Frank’s presence on that second power play unit where his quick right-handed release has him manning the “bumper” spot in the slot, a role performed so capably by T.J. Oshie for many years and by Tom Wilson of late. Frank’s blazing speed and his ability to back off defenders have the Caps often relying on him for zone entries on that second unit as well.
“I’m just there to support the other four guys on the ice,” says Frank. “The bumper has a busy job; he is supposed to be all over, shooting pucks and helping out every other guy with support. That’s been a little bit of a learning curve for me; I haven’t really played bumper before, but it’s been a lot of fun and the guys have been really helpful. And on the entries, the only thing I’m trying to do is just skate as fast as I can and make a clean play to the wall guy, and then finish my route down low for any support. And so far, so good.”
With Hershey, Frank often occupied the left dot on the power play. In Washington, that’s the “Ovil Office,” if you will, where Alex Ovechkin has thrived for two decades now, scoring more than 300 of his nearly 900 career goals while the Caps are on the power play.
Speaking of Ovechkin, he figures into one of Frank’s goals over the final 23 games of the season.
“If there was one, it would be getting an assist to [Ovechkin],” he says. “I think that’d be pretty cool. But I don’t really have anything. Just continue to get better and be reliable for my teammates and coaches.”
If Frank can manage that, he should also be able to steer clear from U-Haul rentals for a while.
Number Nine – Caps defenseman John Carlson enters tonight’s game with a nine-game assist streak, a career high and tied for the second-longest streak among blueliners 35 or older in NHL history. Mathieu Schneider also had a nine-game streak in 2006-07, and ex-Cap Sergei Gonchar is the record holder with 10 straight apple-producing games for the Penguins in 2012-13.
In The Nets – Charlie Lindgren gets the start for Washington tonight against St. Louis, seeking his 14th victory of the season against one of his two previous NHL employers. In his last six starts, Lindgren is 3-1-1 with a shutout, a 2.42 GAA and a .905 save pct.
Lifetime against St. Louis, he is 1-1-1 with a 2.94 GAA and an .877 save pct. in three appearances, all starts.
We are expecting to see Joel Hofer between the pipes for St. Louis tonight. On the season, Hofer is 10-7-2 with a shutout, a 2.88 GAA and a .903 save pct.
In his lone previous career appearance – a start – against the Capitals, Hofer prevailed 4-2 in a March 17, 2023 game here in Washington. He stopped 32 of 34 shots he faced in that game and did not yield a goal to Caps’ captain Alex Ovechkin in that contest.
All Lined Up – Here’s how we believe the Capitals and the Blues might look on Thursday night in the District:
WASHINGTON
Forwards
8-Ovechkin, 17-Strome, 21-Protas
24-McMichael, 80-Dubois, 43-Wilson
88-Mangiapane, 20-Eller, 53-Frank
22-Duhaime, 26-Dowd, 16-Raddysh
Defensemen
38-Sandin, 74-Carlson
42-Fehervary, 3-Roy
6-Chychrun, 57-van Riemsdyk
Goaltenders
79-Lindgren
48-Thompson
Extras
13-Vrana
27-Alexeyev
52-McIlrath
Out/Injured
15-Milano (upper body)
19-Backstrom (hip)
77-Oshie (back)
ST. LOUIS
Forwards
63-Neighbours, 18-Thomas, 89-Buchnevich
81-Holloway, 10-Schenn, 25-Kyrou
71-Joseph, 70-Sundqvist, 76-Bolduc
13-Toropchenko, 12-Faksa, 26-Walker
Defensemen
17-Fowler, 55-Parayko
6-Broberg, 72-Faulk
20-Suter, 4-Leddy
Goaltenders
50-Binnington
30-Hofer
Extras
9-Texier
75-Tucker
Out/Injured
47-Krug (lower body)
