0125CapsNucksPreview

Jan. 25 vs. Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena

Time: 10:00 p.m.

TV: MNMT

Radio: 106.7 THE FAN, Caps Radio 24/7

Washington Capitals (33-10-5)

Vancouver Canucks (20-17-10)

Washington’s mostly western road swing continues when the Capitals play the middle match of their five-game journey on Saturday night in Vancouver. Heading into Saturday’s game with the Canucks, the Caps carry a six-game winning streak and a 12-game point streak (9-0-3).

After earning a 3-2 win on opening night of the tour in Edmonton, the Caps whitewashed the Kraken 3-0 in Seattle on Thursday behind a strong performance from Charlie Lindgren (22 saves) in his first start in 13 nights. Returning from a short stint on injured reserve with an upper body injury, Lindgren was sharp throughout the game in picking up his first shutout of the season and the ninth of his NHL career.

Lindgren also benefited from one of the Caps’ most diligent and assertive three-zone, 60-minute performances in recent weeks; Washington had a solid night in terms of puck possession and offensive zone time, producing a number of prime scoring opportunities. Seattle’s Joey Daccord also made a number of important stops to keep his team within striking distance.

“I felt really good,” says Lindgren. “I think it sucks being out. Honestly, I can’t even describe just how much – even though it was two weeks – just getting back in there with the guys and being in the room again, I can’t overstate how much I love this team and how much I love the guys, the staff and everything.

“Just getting back out there, I thought the guys did a really good job of blocking shots, and I thought our sticks were really good tonight when they were getting into some dangerous areas. Just really good stick-on-puck, and just seeing that extra effort, I thought we competed really hard tonight.”

In their own end, the Capitals – now the NHL’s stingiest team at 2.38 goals against per game – also excelled, and Washington blueliner Martin Fehervary deserves major props in this area. After having a goal nullified by a successful coach’s challenge in the first period, Fehervary caught a Vince Dunn slapshot up high during the game’s lone power play in the second period.

Fehervary, whose face has been a magnet for pucks, sticks and glass from all around the circuit since the preseason, departed for the remainder of the period. When the third period started, Fehervary was back in action, sporting yet another new battle scar, this one above his right eye.

“It’s unbelievable,” says Caps coach Spencer Carbery. “It’s a microcosm of what our group and our guys are all about on this team. He lays it on the line, takes a puck up high, and then he still has to go get repairs; his eye looks like it’s a mess. And he comes back out, plays, and he’s still blocking more shots.

“It’s just a complete example of what our group is all about, and guys that lay out and sacrifice for one another. And he embodies that, Marty. The kid’s a warrior.”

Thirteen different Caps skaters combined to block 22 shots against Seattle, matching the number of saves Lindgren made against the Kraken. Fehervary didn’t even get credit for a blocked shot on the puck that felled him; Dunn’s drive ramped up off Tom Wilson’s stick higher in the zone, thus Wilson was credited with the blocked shot.

“He’s had a hell of a run here, too,” says Caps defenseman John Carlson of Fehervary. “And today is one thing, and it’s amazing that anyone would come back after that. But he has been on a heater with pucks, just finding a way to hit him in the worst spots and taking hits that are unnecessary and what have you.

“He is a warrior. He has been fantastic all year, and certainly that’s another thing that – in the room – guys build off of and rally around, people just laying it on the line for each other.”

Over the life of their current six-game winning streak, the Capitals have yielded just four goals against; they’ve allowed only eight goals in their last eight games (7-0-1), with only four of those scored at 5-on-5, fewest in the NHL over that stretch.

“I like a lot of areas that we're defending,” says Carbery. “We're defending too much – like I've talked about – but I've liked our coverage. I've liked our closes from a 1-on-1 standpoint, I like our sticks, I like our off-puck awareness, defending in a group of five and not just leaving someone in an isolated situation. I've liked our structure for the most part.

“Everybody, in the details of it, of people being in the right spots, I very rarely in the last – call it 10 games – have to correct one of our guys, on being in the wrong spot or [making] the wrong read, it's usually spot on.

“The structure has been real solid, and I've been happy with that. We’ve just got to try to limit the amount of time that we're having to check and having to put ourselves in those spots. Because the thing that I always say as a coach to our guys is, ‘When you check this hard and detailed, and you're on and you're dialed in, you want to play at the front end of the rink, right?’ When you do such a good job here [in the defensive zone], I don't want to do that anymore. And so that's where we need to embrace that and understand that we're going to do a good job here, but let's take advantage of the fun area of the ice – and that's the offensive zone – in our play with the puck, where we're not giving it right back to them.”

That’s the dream, and the Caps mostly made it a reality on Thursday in Seattle. They’ll aim to build on it on Saturday in Vancouver.

The Caps and Canucks will conclude their season’s series here with Saturday’s tilt; the Caps eked out a 2-1 win over Vancouver in the District on Jan. 8. P-L Dubois scored twice in that game to support Logan Thompson’s 30-save efforts in the Washington nets.

The District was the second stop on the Canucks’ five-game road trip earlier in the month; they returned home with a 1-2-2 mark to show for the journey. Vancouver then went 1-2-0 in a three-game homestand before absorbing a 6-2 drubbing at the hands of the Oilers in Edmonton on Thursday, while the Caps were in Seattle.

Vancouver has not been able to string together successive victories since Nov. 29-Dec. 1, winning only seven of its last 24 games (7-10-7) since.