March 14 vs. Boston Bruins at Capital One Arena
Time: 3:00 p.m.
TV: ABC
Radio: 106.7 THE FAN/Caps Radio Network
Boston Bruins (36-23-6)
Washington Capitals (33-27-7)
In the wake of an uplifting and satisfying 2-1 win over the Sabres in Buffalo on Thursday night, the Capitals return home to host the Boston Bruins on Saturday afternoon in the District. The matinee match is the opener of a four-game homestand, matching the Capitals’ longest homestay of the season.
Washington’s upcoming homestand is its last multi-game homestand of the season, containing more than half – four of seven – of its remaining games at Capital One Arena this season. And for the Capitals, it represents an opportunity to generate a significant playoff push as they head into the final month of the season; Washington’s final regular season game is one month from Saturday.
In the meantime, the Caps have 15 games with which to impact their postseason hopes, which were buoyed by Thursday’s comeback win over the NHL’s hottest team for the equivalent of the last half season; the loss was only the sixth suffered in regulation by the Sabres in their last 37 games (29-6-2).
Charlie Lindgren (29 saves) was magnificent in net, particularly in the opening period when the Sabres were swarming with speed and skill and Jakob Chychrun converted a sublime feed from Aliaksei Protas with 1:33 remaining in regulation to snap a 1-1 tie and lift the Caps to victory.
“Before the game, we talked about resolve and character [playing] back-to-back [games],” says Lindgren. “We know where we're at in the standings. Right now, our backs are against the wall. And the one thing I know about the Washington Capitals is we're not going to quit. We're going to continue to fight, and we showed that tonight.
“So credit to the guys in front of me; I thought they did a terrific job and fighting to the last second. It was fun to watch the guys in front of me and scoring a big goal with minute and 20 [remaining]; they're just competing on a loose puck there and it was great to see that puck go in the net.”
Buffalo had Lindgren and the Caps under siege from puck drop, threatening the net almost constantly. The Sabres dented Lindgren once on 15 shots in the first, and it took a terrific feed from ex-Cap Beck Malenstyn to fuel that goal, scored by Sam Carrick in the front half of the frame. Lindgren closed the door tightly the rest of the night and he was defiant in throwing out his blocker thrice in a span of 10 seconds to thwart Buffalo’s Tage Thompson on as many one-time tee-ups from the left dot. That sequence came near the end of a Buffalo power play in the waning minutes of the first.
Fortunate to be down just one after one, the Caps made some tweaks at intermission.
“We just made a quick little adjustment in the neutral zone,” says Caps coach Spencer Carbery. “It just felt like with the energy in the building, as quick as Buffalo is, as back on our heels as we were, we were just so rushed and panicked with every puck touch we had in the offensive zone. So not only are you defending, which they're going to do; they're a skating team. They're going to have those [offensive] zone shifts where you're defending.
“Fine, okay, as long as we do a good job, keep them to the outside. Okay, we get the puck, and now we go down to their end. We’ve got to make good on a few of those pucks, or else, if we give it right back to them, then you're going to go play [in the defensive zone]. And that's what was happening in the first; we were just giving way too many pucks back – poor execution, bobbling pucks, panicked play, rushes.
“And so, we did a way better job of making plays through the neutral zone, [showing offensive] zone poise, hang on to it, don't be in a rush, don't panic with it. And so, we were at least stable. Then, we've got some [offensive] zone shifts, we've got some [offensive] zone time, we out change them a couple times, and now you grab some momentum.”
Playing for the second time in as many nights after a late night of travel, the Caps needed Lindgren just to get to that point.
“Unbelievable,” says Caps winger Ryan Leonard of Lindgren’s Thursday night performance. “He was a game changer, and he was ready from puck drop. He had our back the whole night and it was good to get a win for him, just seeing how hard he always competes.”
Leonard himself was a game changer as well. After being outshot 15-3 and out attempted 29-12, the Caps were on the ropes as the second got underway. But Leonard’s swipe and snipe at 2:14 of the second not only evened the score, it also quieted the game down and leveled what had been tilted ice.
Leonard has scored in each of the last three games; he has four goals in his last five games. With 14 goals on the season, he is tied for seventh among all NHL rookies and he is six off the League lead in that department.
Thursday’s win halted a four-game road losing streak for the Capitals, who have scored two or fewer goals in five straight road games including the victory over the Sabres, totaling eight goals in those five games.
Boston occupies the second wild card playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, and the Caps are trying to chase down the Bruins or any other team ahead of them that might stumble a bit in the next month. With a regulation win over the Bruins in Saturday’s homestand opener, the Caps can shrink the distance between themselves and Boston – which holds two games in hand – to three points.
The Caps and Bruins are meeting for the second time in a week. The Bruins handed the Caps a 3-1 defeat last Saturday afternoon in Boston. Way back on Oct. 8 in Washington, the B’s prevailed by the same score in the Caps’ season opener.
