Caps Entertain Bruins
Their three-game losing streak in the rear view after Monday's win over the Sabres, the Caps aim to build a winning run with Boston in town.
© Patrick McDermott
By
Mike Vogel
WashingtonCaps.com
The Capitals' brief two-game homestand comes to a close on Wednesday when the Boston Bruins pay the first of their two visits to Verizon Center this season. Both teams come into their Rivalry Night match-up on the heels of overtime victories on home ice on Monday night. The Caps edged Buffalo by a 3-2 count while the Bruins nipped Florida 4-3.
Washington is still scuffling to score goals; it has managed six goals in its last four games and 28 tallies in its last 13 tilts. The drought has been particularly acute at five-on-five, where the Caps have just one goal - Jay Beagle's second period strike on Monday against the Sabres - in their last three-plus games, a span of 150 minutes and 54 seconds of even strength time.
Beagle's goal tied the game at one early in the second. The Sabres were all over the Caps in the Washington end late in the second, pouring 11 unanswered shots on Caps goalie Braden Holtby in just over three minutes. Two of those shots went in, but only one of them counted. Caps video gurus Brett Leonhardt and Tim Ohashi urged Caps coach Barry Trotz to challenge Johan Larsson's goal, alleging the Buffalo forward was offside on the play.
The challenge proved to be a wise one, and the Caps were down 2-1 instead of 3-1 heading into the third period. Washington straightened out in the third, and the Caps got a tying power-play tally from Marcus Johansson to tie the game at 2-2 with just over six minutes left. Johansson also supplied the game-winner in overtime, recording his third two-goal game of the season and his second overtime game-winner in the process.
"The third period is how we have to play," says Beagle. "In the second period, they came at us and we played too much in our end and got to Holts a little too much too, and got a couple of whacks at him. We weren't happy with it. We came in in the second intermission there and were fired up for the third. And that's they way we've got to play in the third.
"So it was good. It's something that we can build momentum off of, and know going forward that's how we've got to play."
There may be some good news for the dormant Washington attack. Caps right wing T.J. Oshie has been sidelined since Nov. 18 with an upper body injury. Even after missing seven games, Oshie still ranks third on the team with eight goals. He participated in a full practice with his teammates on Tuesday, and appears to be close to returning.
"I got into a real practice for a change here, and it felt pretty good out there," says Oshie. "We'll see where we go."
Oshie has been skating for a couple of weeks but was just recently cleared for contact and the more rigorous parts of his job description.
"It's been a pretty good progression," says Oshie. "Getting better, getting better, pushing it - and if it was sore, we'd back off. Everything has been positive so far and we've moved in the right direction. We'll talk to Trotzie and the docs and see where we go."
An Oshie return could help stimulate the Caps at even strength and on the power play. Although Washington's extra-man outfit ranks 23rd in the league with a 15.2% success rate, the unit has supplied critical tying tallies in the third period of each of the last two games. The Caps' power play is directly responsible for the team pulling three points out of the last two games and avoiding a fourth straight loss on Monday against Buffalo.
"I think they're getting their confidence back," says Trotz of his team's power play unit. "They've been difference makers. I know for quite a while the power play has been the focus of a lot of articles. But they've come through big for us in the last couple of games. And that's what you want is your power play to come through big.
"They're starting to get their confidence and they're working at it. You get a couple in a row and then you start feeling it, and it's a little bit of a mindset. For a while there we were passing it around and we were getting chances, but we weren't getting goals. I think that mindset is changing. We can be a difference in the game. You need to have some success to have that mindset take root and take hold. They've been big the last couple of games for us. They have got us some points here."
Take away the three points the Caps earned in their last two games, and Washington is sitting south of the final playoff berth in the Eastern Conference standings and saddled with a four-game losing streak.
Boston brings a three-game winning streak to town, and the Bruins are 4-0-1 in their last five games. This is the B's third winning streak of three games this season; they're still seeking their first four-game run.
While Johansson was scoring two goals - including the game-winner in overtime - for Washington in Monday's win over the Sabres, David Pastrnak was netting a pair for Boston against the Panthers, including the game-winner in the extra session.
Pastrnak now has 15 goals and 21 points in 21 games this season, leading the Bruins in both categories.
The Bruins are running third in the NHL's Atlantic Division standings, five points behind front running Montreal and a single point south of second-place Ottawa. The B's are a point ahead of fourth-place Tampa Bay.
Boston is tied with Edmonton for the most road wins in the league, and the B's lead the Eastern Conference with eight road victories (8-5-2). The Bruins have lost three of their last four games on the road (1-2-1), but they won their most recent road tilt, a 2-1 edging of the Sabres in Buffalo on Saturday.
