Capitals confident return to Vegas coming at right time

WASHINGTON -- Nicklas Backstrom couldn't hold back a smile, even after a tough loss.

Like the rest of the Washington Capitals, Backstrom was disappointed in letting a four-goal second period lead slip away in a
6-5 loss to the Anaheim Ducks
on Sunday.
But his mood changed when the subject shifted to the Capitals' return to T-Mobile Arena for a Stanley Cup Final rematch against the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday (10 p.m. ET; SN, ATTSN-RM, NBCSWA, NHL.TV).
"Lot of good memories," Backstrom said. "Especially the locker room. Hopefully they've regrouped from that."
The last time the Capitals were in the visiting locker room at T-Mobile Arena, they were celebrating their Cup-clinching 4-3 victory in Game 5 of the Final on June 7. A great deal of champagne and beer was consumed and sprayed about in the revelry.

The Capitals will be back in that room before they practice Monday.
"Obviously it's a great memory and lots of good times over there," Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin said. "But that was last year. This is a new year. Of course when you're coming back you're going to have memories, you're going to have a smile on your face. But as soon as the game starts it's a different day."
It appeared the Capitals (15-8-3) would return to Vegas on an eight-game winning streak when Nic Dowd scored with 6:30 remaining in the second period to increase their lead to 5-1. But the Ducks cut it to 5-3 before the end of the period with goals 55 seconds apart from Andrew Cogliano and Rickard Rakell.
Anaheim scored three more times in the third period, capped by Pontus Aberg's winner with 5:05 remaining, to dampen Washington's mood on its flight west.
"Obviously that's not something we want to do," Backstrom said. "At the same time you've got to realize you're not going to win every game. I just felt like when you have a 5-1 lead you should do something better with it."
Capitals coach Todd Reirden called it "a good lesson, but a hard lesson." It came at a time when the Capitals appeared to have their Stanley Cup swagger back.
After looking unmotivated at times while going 7-6-3 in their first 16 games, the Capitals rediscovered the formula that worked so well for them last season, playing with commitment at both ends of the ice and sticking with their defensive structure to limit scoring chances against.
It started with a 5-2 win at the Minnesota Wild on Nov. 13, and though the Capitals lost 3-1 at the Winnipeg Jets one night later, they played well again and reeled off seven consecutive wins after that to surge into first place in the Metropolitan Division. They outscored their opponents 30-16 during the winning streak and allowed more than three goals once, in a 5-4 overtime win at the Montreal Canadiens on Nov. 19.
The Capitals were on their way to another win Sunday when they let up late in the second period and the Ducks made them pay. It was a reminder of what can happen when they stray from their structure and discipline. The Ducks scored their fourth and fifth goals on the power play.

"It's hard to keep that consistent play up every game in this League and [Sunday was] one of those games that just humbles myself, humbles our group," goalie Braden Holtby said. "You have to make sure we keep our foot on the gas, keep pushing forward. You can't sit back at any time against any team in this League."
Searching for a silver lining, Holtby suggested the timing for such a loss was good for the Capitals because their return to Vegas comes next.
"Obviously that's a special place for us, but if there's a blessing in disguise, it's this game happened right before it," he said. "So now we know we have to focus on the game we're going to play and not worry about what happened in the past. It's these games that are after [losses like Sunday] that show the true character of your group, and that's one that we're going to push forward to put our best game on the ice there."
The Capitals expect the Golden Knights (14-13-1) to do the same. They defeated the Golden Knights 5-2 in their first meeting this season, at Capital One Arena on Oct. 10.
Vegas is 7-3-1 at T-Mobile Arena, including 5-1-0 in their past six games there.
"Now it's on our leaders in our room that have done such a phenomenal job of carrying us through our recent hot streak," Reirden said. "How do they react when it's not going so perfect, and it didn't [Sunday]. That's on our leadership and our staff to get ourselves ready after a long flight. … We'll skate [Monday] in Vegas and then a morning skate [Tuesday] and be ready to go in a memorable building for us for sure. So that can helpfully help us push forward past a tough loss."