Caps Back to the Road to Face Panthers
Washington seeks a third straight win in the early going of the 2016-17 season as it visits the Panthers in south Florida.
© Eliot J. Schechter
By
Mike Vogel
WashingtonCaps.com
After sweeping a short two-game homestand, the Capitals take to the road once again. They'll take another in a slew of one-game journeys when they travel to south Florida on Thursday to face the Florida Panthers.
Washington edged the New York Islanders in its home opener on Saturday, and then it thoroughly suffocated the Colorado Avalanche 3-0 on Tuesday. The Avs were playing their second game in as many nights, and the Capitals exploited that advantage, forechecking the Avalanche relentlessly and drastically limiting Colorado's offensive chances.
"It was good," says Caps forward Brett Connolly, who made his debut in a Washington sweater in the win over Colorado. "We knew [the Avalanche] played back-to-back, and we had our legs most of the night. We know how hard it is to play back-to-backs in this league. I thought we had our legs for the majority of the game and it was good to get back out there and be part of a win and get the ball rolling a little bit here."
Philipp Grubauer got his first start of the season in goal for the Capitals, and he made 18 stops to notch his first career shutout in the NHL.
"I thought he was real sharp," says Caps coach Barry Trotz of Grubauer. "They had really nothing in the first period. Then they had a couple of chances in the second. With traffic, they have some people. They have a really good net presence; they're a team that goes to the net and they're hungry around the net. I thought that he just looked very composed all night. There wasn't any jitters or anything like that. I thought he was real, real sharp."
Washington has permitted three goals in three games thus far this season, and only one of those was scored at even strength. The Caps' defense has been excellent at limiting chances, keeping shots to a minimum and to the outside, and moving the puck up ice quickly and efficiently.
"We're preaching playing fast," says Connolly, "and our [defense] is getting those pucks up really quick. We got the pucks in their end, got the cycle game going and we played fast. It's hard for teams to get changes when they're in their end or in the neutral zone and we're throwing it back in right away. I thought we were fast the whole game. We played well and had our legs, and it was a good win."
The Caps played well in all three zones on Tuesday, a formula that should lead to success whenever Washington is able to repeat it.
"I think we did a great job in the neutral zone," says Caps center Nicklas Backstrom. "We played quick, and we didn't allow them to get up ice. I think that was the key for us, especially in the second period when they have a long [change]. We played quick and we grinded it out.
"We had a good forecheck. We had good pressure on them all night. We didn't allow them to really set something up. We kept it deep all the time, and it looked like their [defensemen] were kind of tired there at the end because we kept the pressure on them all the time."
Washington's forecheck was so omnipresent, that even Caps defensemen felt for the beleaguered Avs blueliners at times during the game.
"I think we've all been in that situation where if you're having a tough time getting out of your zone early in the game - especially on the second night of back-to-backs - it's going to be a long night for you," says Caps defenseman Matt Niskanen. "It's taxing, especially early in the year, until teams kind of get their legs under them and get into the depth of the schedule. We definitely took advantage of the scheduling [Tuesday] night."
Three times in the first period alone, the Caps were able to hem Colorado's third defensive pairing of Fedor Tyutin and Patrick Wiercioch into their own end, forcing the duo to endure a shift of over a minute in length. Both of those veterans are in their first seasons with the Avs, trying to master playing and communicating together while learning the nuances of a new system and playing for a new coach.
Thursday's game is a complete reset against a completely different - and almost certainly better - team in the Panthers. But if the Caps are able to put forth some of the better elements of their last two games - and in particular, their forecheck and their play in their own end of the ice - they should have success regardless of the foe.
"You feel for them," says Caps defenseman Nate Schmidt, referring to the Avs' defensemen. "You know how it goes. Especially our group, like coach said today, we were going in waves all night. We were just coming at them in waves and it just wears you down. Every time you go back for pucks, there is somebody on you. There is no time for you to set up and make plays; someone is always bearing down on you. It just makes it tough.
"It's not fun to play that way. It's fun to get back there, have your time, and wheel the pucks and that sort of thing. But I think our guys did a fantastic job with that. After the first three or four minutes of the game, we settled in and decided, 'This is the game that we want to play.' And that made it really tough on them, especially in the second of a back-to-back. That's exactly what you have to do when you have a team traveling for two straight nights on the road."
Like Washington, Florida carries a 2-0-1 record into Thursday's game. The Panthers started the season on home ice, defeating the New Jersey Devils 2-1 in overtime in their season opener and then downing the Detroit Red Wings by a 4-1 count two nights later.
Also like Washington, the lone blemish on Florida's record is a shootout setback suffered in its only road game of the season to date. The Cats fell 4-3 in the shootout on Tuesday night in a game against cross-state rival Tampa Bay.
With newcomer James Reimer in net making his Panthers debut, the Cats were less than 10 seconds away from the first 3-0 start in franchise history when Lightning captain Steven Stamkos cranked home a shot from an improbable angle along the goal line, tying the game and sending it into overtime. The Lightning eventually prevailed in the sixth round of the shootout.
Venerable Florida goaltender and frequent Caps nemesis Roberto Luongo has been at the top of his game for the Panthers in the early going. Rebounding from offseason hip surgery, Luongo has won both of his starts, allowing just one goal in each game.
Lifetime against the Capitals, Luongo is 20-10 with two shutouts, a 2.29 GAA and a .926 save pct. in 36 games (34 starts).
The Panthers suffered a pair of long-term injuries to key forwards before the season even got underway. Center Nick Bjugstad went down with an upper body injury on Oct. 5, and left wing Jonathan Huberdeau was lost to a lower body ailment two nights later. Both players are on injured reserve, and the Panthers will need to make do without them for the foreseeable future.
Lone Visit -Thursday night finds the Capitals in south Florida to take on the Florida Panthers for the only time this season. Florida faces the Caps in Washington on Nov. 5 and on April 9 in the 2016-17 season finale for both teams.
In the NHL, everything resets at the end of every game. Coming off their most complete performance of the young season in a 3-0 win over the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday night at Verizon Center, the Caps must now start from scratch against a very good Florida team.
"We came out fast, put pucks in deep and played the right way," says Caps right wing Tom Wilson of the win over the Avalanche. "I think it was the first time this season you really saw what felt like Capitals hockey. It was run and gun, but at the same time good [defensive] zone, good transition, good backchecking and good tracking. We did a lot of good things, but that being said, it was set up for that situation. They were playing [the second of] a back-to-back. Now, we're just going to have to be ready to play a good Florida team."
Four of Washington's first five opponents this season posted 100 or more standings points in 2015-16, and the Panthers are among that group. The Panthers reached the century mark for the first time in their history last season, piling up a franchise record 103 points.
Backline Stability -Washington has returned its same group of seven defensemen and its same two goaltenders from last season, and the benefits of that level of comfort and stability have shown in the early going as the Caps have permitted just three goals in three games this season, and only one of those was scored at even strength.
Florida is also off to a strong start, owning the same record as the Capitals and having allowed just five goals in its first three games. But the Panthers did experience some turnover on their blueline and in goal. Four of Florida's six regular defensemen weren't regulars on the Panthers' blueline last season, and three have joined the team from other NHL organizations.
Washington went through a similar transition period at the start of the 2014-15 season when it was working Brooks Orpik and Matt Niskanen into its lineup. If there is an area of weakness the Caps can exploit tonight against the Panthers, maybe it's in that lack of cemented familiarity Florida is still working towards with its mostly new group of defensement.
"You hope that some of their exits aren't as clean because they haven't had a lot of natural reps with partners and what have you," says Caps coach Barry Trotz. "Hopefully, we can take advantage of that.
"They changed the style of their defensemen a little bit. [They went from having] Willie Mitchell and [Erik] Gudbranson - they're real strong around the net, they're big physical guys - to more of skating and puck-moving guys there. There is probably a trade-off in some areas of their game. We've got to see if we can get to their defense, no different than we'd try to get to anybody's else's defense.
"For us, we've got to do a lot of the things we did [Tuesday night] against Colorado. We've got to play a quick game, we've got to go four lines, we've got to outchange the other team, we've got to make sure that we've got good detail and structure in terms of running our routes, be it on the forecheck or the neutral zone, or even coming into the [defensive] zone.
"Our awareness away from the puck has to be really, really acute against these guys, because they're really a good team off the rush, not only on special teams but five-on-five. They get people up ice like [Keith] Yandle and [Aaron] Ekblad. They've got some creative people, and they got some legendary people in [Jaromir Jagr], who is hard to handle because of the big body and the big long stick, and he knows how to find people.
"They've got a lot of good elements and they're well-coached. From that standpoint, they've always been a tough opponent since I've come over to the east."
Tough Barn -The Caps have scored only four goals in their last three trips to BB&T Center. One of those goals was an Evgeny Kuznetsov game-winner in overtime last Halloween. Because of that tally and because they've limited the Panthers to six goals in those same three games, the Caps are 1-1-1 in those three contests, the first of which was an NHL record 20-round shootout here on Dec. 16, 2014.
"They were really good," says Trotz of the Panthers' play against Washington last season. "They had good structure, I thought they were good defensively. I didn't think we got enough heat on their goal last year, and they kept us off on some of the special teams at times. They just played a real solid defensive game and kept everybody above us. I just thought they won all the net battles against us last year. We've just got to be a little bit better in those areas and see if we can find the back of the net on them."
Marquee Matchup - In each of the three games between the Capitals and the Panthers last season, both clubs started their backup goaltenders. We saw Washington's Philipp Grubauer go up against Florida's Al Montoya (who is now with Montreal) in each of those three games.
Tonight, we will get a look at the two guys at the top of their teams' respective goaltending depth charts in Braden Holtby and Roberto Luongo. The last time these two went head-to-head was in the aforementioned 20-round shootout nearly two years ago.
Let's hope history doesn't repeat itself.
All Lined Up - Here's how we expect the Capitals to look on Thursday night against the Panthers how we expect Florida to look tonight as well:
WASHINGTON
Forwards
8-Ovechkin, 92-Kuznetsov, 77-Oshie
90-Johansson, 19-Backstrom, 65-Burakovsky
10-Connolly, 20-Eller, 14-Williams
26-Winnik, 83-Beagle, 43-Wilson
Defensemen
9-Orlov, 74-Carlson
27-Alzner, 2-Niskanen
44-Orpik, 88-Schmidt
Goaltenders
70-Holtby
31-Grubauer
Scratches
4-Chorney
82-Sanford
FLORIDA
Forwards
81-Marchessault, 16-Barkov, 68-Jagr
36-Jokinen, 21-Trocheck, 18-Smith
90-McCann, 62-Malgin, 7-Sceviour
41-McKegg, 17-MacKenzie, 38-Harper
Defensemen
3-Yandle, 5-Ekblad
19-Matheson, 55-Demers
13-Pysyk, 6-Petrovic
Goaltenders
1-Luongo
34-Reimer
Scratched
22-Thornton
77-Kampfer
Injured
11-Huberdeau (lower body)
27-Bjugstad (upper body)
