Hard Road To Travel – Three weeks ago, the Caps returned from a four-game road trip with an underwhelming 1-3-0 mark. As they prepared to head into a home-heavy stretch of seven of their next eight games at Capital One Arena, the Caps owned a 2-6-1 record in their previous nine games, the lowest point pct. (.278) in the NHL across that span.
As they head into the final game of their current four-game road trip on Friday night in Anaheim, the Caps have an opportunity to achieve a rarity in franchise history. Only once previously in franchise history have the Caps gone on the road and won four games in a span of six nights, but they could double that total with a win over the Ducks in Friday’s trip finale.
Back in late October of 1983, the Caps won four road games in six nights when they took a 1-0 win in Pittsburgh on Oct. 25, a 2-0 win in New Jersey the next night, a 6-1 win in Minnesota on Oct. 29 (with a goal and an assist from Craig Laughlin), and a 7-3 victory in Winnipeg on Oct. 30, a game that featured a natural hat trick from Mike Gartner. Al Jensen was the starting and winning goaltender in all four games, which were comprised of a couple sets of back-to-backs.
This season’s Capitals started making hay at home midway through last month, going 6-1-1 during their eight-game home heavy stretch of late November, and with three straight wins to start this trip, they’ve improved to 9-1-1 in their last 11 games. They carry a six-game winning streak into Friday’s game, the longest current winning streak in the League.
John Carlson won’t play tonight; he’ll miss a second straight game with an upper body injury. Justin Sourdif missed Wednesday’s game in San Jose with a lower body injury, and Caps coach Spencer Carbery says Sourdif will be a game time decision for tonight’s game in Anaheim.
All Of This And Nothing – Earlier this season, the Caps permitted one or fewer goals against in three straight road games (Oct. 12-28), going 2-1-0 in the process; they fell 1-0 in Dallas in the last of those three games. Coming into tonight’s game in Anaheim, Washington again carries a streak of three straight road games with one or zero goals against, which is also a franchise record, achieved eight times prior to this season, and – before this season’s twin occurrences – achieved most recently from Jan. 20-26, 2011.
In Wednesday’s 7-1 win over the Sharks in San Jose, the Caps got seven assists – including five of the primary variety – from four different defensemen in the win, and Washington blueliners lead the NHL with 22 goals and 78 points on the season. And while both Logan Thompson and Charlie Lindgren have been stellar of late (see below), holding the opposition to fewer than two goals against in three straight games on the road doesn’t happen without staunch defense. And despite their bounteous offensive contributions this season, Washington’s blueline crew has also excelled at its primary job responsibility, keeping pucks out of the Caps net.
“The last year or two, especially, we want our [defensemen] not just in the rush,” says Caps defenseman John Carlson. “I think everybody wants a five-man attack now; ‘Let's get up the ice as quick as possible.’ That's normal, right? But I think that our forwards are also learning, like, when I get the puck in a certain situation, I'm different than [Jakob Chychrun], who is different than [Trevor van Riemsdyk] that's different than [Declan Chisholm]. The forwards are starting to read off of us well, too, in that respect. And that helps us a lot, too. And I think, you know, we have a lot of, a lot of different skill sets back there that all can attack differently, and that’s what we want. There is a lot of ability back there with some incredible players that don’t get talked about as much.”
Along with Colorado and Los Angeles, the Caps are currently one of only three NHL teams with four or more defensemen who’ve logged at least 400 minutes of 5-on-5 time this season while being on the ice for fewer than 20 goals against.
“I think a huge advantage that we have this year is returning the same [defense] corps, obviously adding [Chisholm,” says Caps forward Connor McMichael. “So, you get to know Chis and his tendencies and whatnot, but the other six guys, you know exactly what they’re going to do. Like when Chychy is going back for a puck, you know what his tendencies are and what he’s looking for, and you know what John is looking for.
“I think a huge part of the success we’ve had – lately, especially – is because of our [defense]. I think we're up there in probably the top five in goals against this year, and a lot of that is obviously our forwards doing a lot too, but I think majority of that is obviously our [defense] and our goaltenders.
“And I've seen it with Chucky and LT talking with the [defense]. And I think once you get to know them and you build that chemistry, it just makes everything seamless. I think a big part of our game this year is breakouts, and just making it seamless and everyone's connected. And I think that's why our team has had success this year, is our chemistry from last year. We didn't lose a lot of guys. It's a lot of the same group, and I think that's been a huge part of it.”
Washington has also managed to win the first three games of this trip without two of its top four centers. It was without P-L Dubois and Nic Dowd for the first two games of the trip and without Dubois and Sourdif on Wednesday in San Jose.
“I think we're doing a good job as a group of not putting that on one person, whether it's Justin Sourdif or Connor McMichael,” says Carbery, “and expecting them to do the job that Nic Dowd did at the beginning of the [season], or that Pierre-Luc Dubois has done. It's a team effort when it comes to defending at [five-on-five].
“And then I would also put our goaltender in there too. When we do have breakdowns, which are inevitably going to happen, they've been there – Chucky and LT – to bail us out. And so, we look at it as a group. And it's not just on line one, it's not just on line four, it's not just on our bottom [defense] pair, not on our middle, it's a group effort. And it takes our entire group, and we know that we have to check at a high level to have success. And so there's a commitment to that, there's a work ethic to that, and there's an intelligence to that, that we focus on.”
In The Nets – Thompson carries a four-game personal winning streak into Friday’s game with Anaheim; he and Lindgren have each won their last four starts, the first pair of Caps goaltenders to do so since both Pheonix Copley and Braden Holtby had concurrent runs of five straight starts in Feb.-March of 2019.
Thompson was instrumental in the Caps winning the first two games of this trip; he yielded two goals on 56 shots in those two outings and made big saves early to keep the games within reach.
Thompson has won four straight starts, posting a 1.25 GAA and a .950 save pct. over that stretch, and he has limited the opposition to two or fewer goals against in 15 of his 19 starts this season.
Tonight, Thompson is seeking the 100th win of his NHL career, and he is attempting to do so in the 166th appearance of his NHL career. According to NHL Stats, only 17 goaltenders in League history have reached triple-digit win totals in fewer than 170 appearances, a list that includes a bevy of Hockey Hall of Famers such as Clint Benedict, Tiny Thompson, Frankie Brimsek, Bill Durnan, Terry Sawchuk, Jacques Plante and Ken Dryden.
Lifetime against the Ducks, Thompson is 3-2-1 in six appearances – five starts – with a pair of shutouts, a 2.07 GAA and a .918 save pct.
Veteran Ville Husso will be tending the twine for the Ducks tonight. Recalled from AHL San Diego late last month when No. 1 netminder Lukas Dostal was sidelined with a lower body injury, Husso has since been thrust into a starting role after Petr Mrazek also landed on injured reserve.
Husso has appeared in four straight games for Anaheim, starting three of them. He is 2-2-0 with a 3.46 GAA and an .859 save pct. with the Ducks this season. Lifetime against the Capitals, Husso is 4-0-1 in five appearances – all starts – with a 1.77 GAA and a .940 save pct.
All Down The Line – Here’s how the Capitals and the Ducks might look on Friday night at Honda Center:
WASHINGTON
Forwards
72-Beauvillier, 17-Strome, 8-Ovechkin
21-Protas, 24-McMichael, 43-Wilson
53-Frank, 26-Dowd, 9-Leonard
15-Milano, 29-Lapierre, 22-Duhaime
Defensemen
42-Fehervary, 38-Sandin
6-Chychrun, 3-Roy
47-Chisholm, 57-van Riemsdyk
Goaltenders
48-Thompson
79-Lindgren
Healthy Extras
52-McIlrath
Injured/Out
34-Sourdif (lower body)
74-Carlson (upper body)
80-Dubois (lower body)
ANAHEIM
Forwards
20-Kreider, 91-Carlsson, 19-Terry
61-Gauthier, 23-McTavish, 45-Sennecke
77-Vatrano, 16-Strome, 64-Granlund
44-Johnston, 25-Poehling, 17-Killorn
Defensemen
2-Lacombe, 8-Trouba
51-Zellweger, 7-Gudas
98-Minytukov, 14-Helleson
Goalies
33-Husso
32-Buteyets
Healthy Extras
13-Nesterenko
24-Harkins
74-Moore
Injured/Out
1-Dostal (upper body)
34-Mrazek (undisclosed)
