Caps Western Trip Continues in Calgary
After halting a two-game slide with a 5-2 win in Vancouver on Saturday, the Caps look to keep rolling on Sunday against the Flames in Calgary.
By
Mike Vogel
WashingtonCaps.com
Washington moves into the back half of its four-game road swing through western Canada on Sunday night in Calgary when it faces the Flames in the third game on the journey.
The Caps stumbled in the first game of the trip on Wednesday in Edmonton, falling by a 4-1 count. But Washington redeemed itself nicely with an impressive 5-2 victory over the Canucks in Vancouver on Saturday. Now, the Caps finish off their first set of back-to-back games in the 2016-17 season on Sunday against the Flames, hoping to retain some of the good mojo they had going a night earlier.
Marcus Johansson scored twice and enjoyed a three-point night, and Tom Wilson and T.J. Oshie added single tallies to support the 23-save efforts of Philipp Grubauer in the Washington net on Saturday against the Canucks. Karl Alzner completed the scoring with a length-of-the-ice empty-netter in the game's penultimate minute, halting the Capitals' first two-game regulation slide in more than 19 months.
The Caps scored twice in a span of just 15 seconds late in the first period to take a 2-0 lead over the Canucks, but Vancouver rallied to make it 2-1 in the waning seconds of the first period. The Capitals restored their two-goal lead on Johansson's power-play goal in the second period, but again the Canucks came up with a goal late in the period to shave the deficit to one.
Washington played a strong possession game, eroding the weary Canucks by making them play long shifts in their own end of the ice. Vancouver was playing its second game in as many nights and its ninth game in the last 15 nights. Canucks goalie Jacob Markstrom was strong in his own right, keeping the game close and giving his team a chance to win.
Grubauer was at his best when it mattered most, in the middle of the third when the Canucks went on a power play with a chance to pull even. He denied Bo Horvat, Brandon Sutter and Sven Baertschi in the span of about two minutes before Washington resumed its weathering of the Canucks in their own end of the ice.
"He made some great stops in every period that kept us in the game and kept us with that lead," says Johansson of Grubauer. "It's awesome. I think he was just playing unreal for us and he deserved that win."
"[The Canucks] got some nice rebounds there on the two rebound goals," says Caps coach Barry Trotz of Grubauer's performance, "but I thought that it was really key that he made the key save at the key moment. You recognize it's a key moment, it was 3-2 and we were in their end, and then it was [Jannik] Hansen and the Sedins going in, and he made a real great save there. He's been good for us."
Coming off back-to-back setbacks in which his team scored a combined total of just three goals, Trotz switched up all four of Washington's forward lines going into Saturday's game, and the results were positive. All four lines had their moments and their chances in the offensive zone and the Capitals showed some swagger that had been lacking a bit at that end of the ice.
"Just the puck management," responds Trotz, when asked what worked for his team offensively. "It was easier to create offense when you're going north, when you're putting the puck on someone's tape, when you have real good support, when you weren't cheating the system, if you will. From that standpoint, we were able to have good puck possession and good looks. I think we expanded the zone a little bit at times, and we had some good looks from down low. We had something from the flank, we had some good looks with net presence, and I thought we did a lot of good things."
Now, the Caps will attempt to carry over those positive feelings into Sunday's game against the Flames.
"We'll find out [Sunday]," says Trotz. "It's always important. You win a game, you don't want to just be happy. We've lost a couple here, and we just want to see if we can get some momentum [on Sunday]. Calgary is playing really well right now. I think they've won three in a row, so it will be a real good test."
Trotz is right, the Flames have won three straight. Calgary got off to a sluggish start in 2016-17, going 1-4-1 in its first half dozen games. But the Flames have rallied since, reeling off those three straight victories to reach what passes for .500 in the modern NHL.
The Flames turned it around in a set of back-to-back games on the road, winning a 3-2 shootout decision over the Blackhawks in Chicago on Monday night and beating the Blues 4-1 in St. Louis a night later. The Flames started a quick two-game homestand with a 5-2 victory over Ottawa on Friday, and that homestand concludes with Washington's visit on Sunday night.
Defenseman Dougie Hamilton netted a pair of goals and added an assist for the Flames in Friday's victory over the Senators. According to Elias Sports Bureau, Hamilton is only the third Flames defenseman in the last 17 seasons to put up a pair of goals and a helper in the same game. He joins Andrew Ference (Jan. 5, 2004 against the Rangers in New York) and teammate Mark Giordano (Oct. 23, 2015 against Detroit) on that short list.
After allowing a total of 14 goals in his first three starts of the season (all losses), Calgary netminder Brian Elliott has surrendered just five goals over his last three starts (all wins). Lifetime against the Capitals, Elliott is 6-3, but he has a less than stellar 3.36 GAA and an .883 save pct. in those 11 appearances, 10 of which were starts.
Back-to-Back -For the first time this season, the Caps close out a set of games on back-to-back nights when they face the Flames in Calgary on Sunday night. For Washington, this is the first of what will be 16 sets of back-to-back games this season.
The Caps had 15 sets of back-to-back games last season, and they forged a 22-7-1 record in those games. Washington was 13-2-0 in the front end of back-to-backs last season, and it went 9-5-1 in the back end.
Three of Washington's sets of back-to-backs in 2015-16 consisted of two straight road games as is the case with their back-to-back set of games this weekend. The Caps swept the first two of those sets, and split the third.
Special Delivery - The Caps have played seven games this season. They scored on the power play in only two of those games, and they've been perfect on the penalty in only two of those games. Those two games are the same games in both instances, a 3-0 win over Colorado on Oct. 18 and the Caps' 5-2 win in Vancouver on Saturday night.
"I thought the power play got us a real timely goal and the penalty kill got us a couple of real timely kills just to not et them get it tied up," said Caps coach Barry Trotz after the game.
As they prepare to face the Flames, the Caps are hoping to build some momentum on both special teams.
"That's huge for us," says Caps forward Marcus Johansson, who netted two goals -including a power-play tally - in Saturday's win. "Special teams hasn't been great for us so far, hasn't really been clicking. We had some bad bounces and stuff like that but it's always good to get that out of the way."
Rearranged - Trotz changed up the Caps' forward lines before Saturday's game, and the dozen skaters played well enough that we expect to see the same units tonight in Calgary.
Perhaps the two most effective units were the Johansson-Evgeny Kuznetsov-Tom Wilson trio and the Andre Burakovsky-Lars Eller-T.J. Oshie unit.
Johansson had three points, Wilson scored his first goal of the season and both lines were consistently effective in the offensive zone.
"We were putting pucks to good areas," says Oshie when asked about the key to his line's success. "I think we were coming as a line, as a group of three when we were entering the zone, which is easier to read and easier to get the defense to back up a little bit. I think we were winning a lot of loose pucks and a lot of puck battles and supporting each other after that. So it was a good night for our line. I think that's the first time I've ever played with Burky and with Lars, too. It was fun out there."
Holtby In Goal - After Philipp Grubauer helped Washington to a 5-2 win in Vancouver with a 23-save performance, Braden Holtby gets the net for Washington on Sunday in Calgary.
Holtby has lost consecutive regular season starts in regulation for the first time since March 11-13, 2015. He has not lost as many as three straight regulation starts since a three-game skid from Feb. 22-27, 2015.
Lifetime against the Flames, Holtby is 2-1-1 in five appearances, with a 3.66 GAA and an .852 save pct. In three career starts at Saddledome, Holtby is 2-1 with a 2.71 GAA and an .889 save pct.
Déjà vu - If it's Oct. 30, the Caps must be in Calgary. In a bizarre scheduling coincidence, tonight's game marks the fifth time the Caps and the Flames have clashed on Oct. 30 over the years, and the fifth time they've done so at the Saddledome in Calgary. Here's a quick look back at the previous four times these two teams have met on Oct. 30.
Oct. 30, 1992 -Kevin Hatcher scored a pair of goals and Sylvain Cote added a single tally to help the Caps to a 3-1 win over the Flames on this date in 1992. All three goals came from defensemen, and Caps netminder Jim Hrivnak made 35 saves to earn the victory. Mike Ridley and Dale Hunter each had a pair of assists for the Caps.
Oct. 30, 1998 - The Caps and Flames played to a scoreless tie after 65 minutes of hockey, the first of only two scoreless ties in Washington's franchise history. Rick Tabaracci made 20 saves in the Washington nets and Ken Wregget made 27 stops for Calgary. A Flames rookie named Martin St. Louis was in the lineup for Calgary that night, playing in his eighth career NHL game.
Oct. 30, 2006 -Olie Kolzig made 37 saves for the Capitals to help Washington to a 4-2 win over the Flames. In the process, Kolzig earned his 258th career NHL victory to tie Hockey Hall of Famer Ken Dryden on the NHL's all-time wins list. Dainus Zubrus and Richard Zednik each netted a pair of goals for the Capitals while Alex Ovechkin and Shaone Morrisonn each kicked in with a pair of assists.
Oct. 30, 2010 - The Caps drubbed the Flames 7-2 on Hockey Night in Canada. After spotting their hosts an early 2-0 lead in the first, the Caps roared back for seven unanswered goals, including six in the second period. Alex Ovechkin scored two power-play goals a dozen seconds apart, the first two of those half dozen goals in the middle period. Mike Green and Matt Bradley tallied 13 seconds apart in the middle of the period, and Nicklas Backstrom, Alexander Semin and David Steckel scored the Caps' other goals. Steckel's goal came on a shorthanded penalty shot. All four of Washington's "Young Guns" - Backstrom, Green, Ovechkin and Semin - scored in the game and each had at least three points. Michal Neuvirth made 27 saves to earn the victory.
Tonight, the Caps will seek their fifth straight Oct. 30 victory over the Flames in Calgary.
All Lined Up -Without benefit of a morning skate, we're not sure what exactly to expect from the Capitals lineup-wise for Sunday's game with Calgary, but check with us on Twitter during warm-ups for up-to-date and accurate lineups. In the meantime, here's how the Caps looked when they took to the ice last night in Vancouver followed by the Flames' lineup for their Friday night win over Ottawa.
WASHINGTON
Forwards
8-Ovechkin, 19-Backstrom, 14-Williams
90-Johansson, 92-Kuznetsov, 43-Wilson
65-Burakovsky, 20-Eller, 77-Oshie
82-Sanford, 83-Beagle, 10-Connolly
Defensemen
9-Orlov, 74-Carlson
27-Niskanen, 2-Alzner
44-Orpik, 88-Schmidt
Goaltenders
31-Grubauer
70-Holtby
Scratches
4-Chorney
26-Winnik
CALGARY
Forwards
13-Gaudreau, 23-Monahan, 39-Chiasson
10-Versteeg, 93-Bennett, 36-Brouwer
19-Tkachuk, 11-Backlund, 67-Frolik
79-Ferland, 18-Stajan, 17-Bouma
Defensemen
5-Giordano, 6-Wideman
7-Brodie, 29-Engelland
3-Jokipakka, 27-D. Hamilton
Goaltenders
1-Elliott
31-Johnson
Injuries
15-Smid (neck)
Scratches
8-Grossman
25-F. Hamilton
61-Kulak
