Jan. 13 vs. Montreal Canadiens at Capital One Arena
Time: 7:00 p.m.
TV: MNMT
Radio: 106.7 THE FAN/Caps Radio Network
Montreal Canadiens (26-14-6)
Washington Capitals (23-17-6)
Back from splitting two games in the Midwest on their annual Mentors’ Trip, the Caps open a three-game homestand Tuesday night against the Montreal Canadiens. Tuesday’s game marks the Habs’ first visit to Washington since the Caps ousted them from the Stanley Cup playoffs here last April 30.
Coming off a 5-1 win over the Blackhawks in Chicago on Friday, the Caps had hopes of stringing together consecutive victories together for the first time since early December, two nights later in the trip finale in Nashville. But despite outplaying the Predators at 5-on-5 and scoring a pair of power-play goals, the Caps fell 3-2 in Music City.
Already playing without P-L Dubois and Tom Wilson, the Caps played without defenseman Jakob Chychrun (illness) on Sunday in Nashville, and they lost center Justin Sourdif to an upper body injury early in the second period. Sourdif took a puck up high and did not return to the game.
Beginning with a shootout loss to the Ducks Dec. 5 in Anaheim, the Caps are 6-8-4 across an 18-game span, a good chunk of the season. And while they’re not happy with being unable to piece together even a modest winning streak over that span of five and a half weeks, they’ve only lost consecutive games in regulation once over the same stretch, dropping both ends of a two-game trip to Winnipeg and Minnesota, respectively, just under a month ago.
For just the third time in 46 games this season, the Caps struck for multiple power-play goals in the same game on Sunday against the Predators, losing for the first time in those circumstances, too. Alex Ovechkin reached the 20-goal plateau for the 21st straight season at the start of his career – the only player in League history to do so – with a 5-on-3 power-play goal in the first and Ethen Frank scored on the man advantage from the slot in the third.
But Nashville answered with a pair of power-play goals of its own, including Roman Josi’s game-winner in the third period, the first 5-on-3 goal the Caps have surrendered in the Spencer Carbery era (210 games). Washington had been the only team not to yield a two-man advantage tally over the previous two seasons and this one to date.
“It’s just a tough League,” says Caps goaltender Charlie Lindgren, who is now 4-2-1 in his last seven starts. “Obviously, we know the group we have in this room, and we are fully capable of stringing together back-to-back wins. It’s just consistency, but we’ll find it here. But a tough loss tonight; I thought for sure we could have won this game, too.”
Despite yielding a total of just two goals against at 5-on-5 in their last three games, the Caps have just one victory (1-2-0).
“I thought we played good at 5-on-5,” says Caps center Dylan Strome. “We controlled the play it felt like, for most of the game. They collapse really hard; we probably didn't get enough pucks to the net, and maybe a little too much passing around the outside. But it feels like that was one of our better games that we played them and lost in a while.
“It's that same story, the last 15-20 games just not consistent enough at getting wins, obviously, and finding ways to lose … I feel like if we keep that 5-on-5 play up – we controlled a lot of the play – and I think we'll be okay in the next couple at home.”
Montreal comes to the District for the middle match of the season series between the two teams. Back on Nov. 20 in Montreal – the night Strome’s third daughter was born – Ovechkin had a hat trick, and both Frank and Sonny Milano scored twice to help the Capitals to an 8-4 win over the Canadiens in a topsy turvy affair that featured a number of momentum shifts.
Prior to their two power-play goal output in Nashville on Sunday, that win in Montreal in mid-November marked the most recent game in which the Caps managed multiple goals with the extra man.
Washington caught the Canadiens in a tailspin in that first meeting; the loss was Montreal’s fifth in succession (0-4-1) and it had been outscored by a combined total of 26-10 in the process.
Since then, Montreal has more than righted its ship. The Habs are 16-7-3 since that loss to the Caps earlier in the season, tied with Detroit for the fifth best point pct. (.673) in the NHL.
The Habs hit town on the second night of a back-to-back set of games; they hosted the Canucks in Montreal on Monday night, dishing out a 6-3 defeat to Vancouver. The Canadiens broke open a 3-3 deadlock with three goals in a span of less than six minutes early in the third. Montreal rookie Ivan Demidov dished out three assists in the victory, stretching his season total to 29, most among all NHL freshmen. Washington’s Ryan Leonard is tied for third with 19.
Tuesday’s game is the opener of a three-game trip for the Canadiens, who head to Buffalo and Ottawa before returning home.
