Caps Clash with Canucks
Caps seeking more offense in Monday night's game against Vancouver
The Caps conclude a quick two-game homestand on Monday night when they host the Vancouver Canucks at Capital One Arena. Following Monday night's game, the Capitals are road heavy for the remainder of October. They'll finish off the month by playing five of their next six games on the road.
After dropping a set of back-to-back games to start the season, the Caps got into the win column with a 3-1 victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night. For the third straight game, the Caps yielded the first goal against Montreal. But Washington erupted for three goals in a span of 6 minutes and 18 seconds in the middle of the second period, enough offense to give Darcy Kuemper (21 saves) his first win in a Capitals' sweater.
For the first time this season, the Caps won the special teams battle in Saturday's game. And for the first time this season, they managed to score more than two goals in a game.
"It helps that they were on the second night of a back-to-back," said T.J. Oshie after the win over Montreal. "But we were making plays a little quicker out there, and I thought our penalty kill was actually better than our power play tonight, which is a good sign because we've let in a couple [of power-play goals], even though those guys have been working hard and doing a good job, we have let up a couple. And tonight, I thought they did a great job back there for us.
"But you want to win the special teams battle every night, whether it's regular season or especially in the postseason, that can win you a series. So we need those two units rolling."
The Caps still have plenty of upside to their game, especially offensively, but the win over the Habs puts them in a position to break even over a season-starting stretch of four games in six nights, if they're able to get a couple of points out of Monday's game against the Canucks.
Washington has scored two goals at 5-on-5 in each of its first three games this season, and Oshie's power-play goal in Saturday's victory over the Habs was the Caps' first extra-man strike of the season. The Capitals have put a total of 90 shots on the opposition's net in the first three games, but they've teed up a total of 194 shots; they've also had 57 shots blocked and they've missed the net 47 times. Opponents have put 91 shots on the Washington nets, but they've only had 37 bids blocked and missed the net 34 times.
While the Caps have had a decent amount of offensive zone time during their small sample of three games thus far this season, they haven't been as efficient there as their foes have been.
"We're working to generate, and we're grinding to generate," says Caps coach Peter Laviolette. "I think at times, through the course of the year, that happens where offense isn't easy. And we're working for it right now. But I don't think that's a bad thing, either, because it makes you focus on the details when you're not good defensively. And I think we have been pretty good defensively; we gave up very few chances [Saturday] night and we got good goaltending when we needed it. But when things aren't going good defensively, you focus on the details of defense, how to become better - what is it you can do better?
"So offensively, we're having those conversations. And this team can score goals by the bunches, but at times - through the course of the year - it may not be as easy. And I think we're pushing and grinding through that right now, to produce. But that's a good thing. It makes everybody work."
Vancouver will be playing the middle match of a five-game, season-opening road trip on Monday night. The Canucks are still seeking their first win of the season; they opened with a 5-3 loss to the Oilers in Edmonton before dropping a 3-2 decision to the Flyers in Philadelphia on Saturday afternoon.
After an 8-15-2 start last season, the Canucks made a coaching change. Travis Green was relieved of his duties and replaced by ex-Caps coach Bruce Boudreau. Vancouver then benefitted from the "Boudreau bump" the rest of the way, finishing 32-15-10 and hanging in the playoff chase until the season's final week.
Boudreau coached 1,045 regular season games in the minors before finally ascending to Washington and his first NHL coaching gig here 15 autumns ago, and on Monday he will be aiming to become the 22nd coach in NHL history to reach the 600-win plateau in the League. Boudreau has coached 1,043 games in the NHL, ranking 24th all-time. He enters Monday's game with a career record of 599-319-125.
During the offseason, the Canucks made several low-key additions to their roster. Most significantly, Vancouver signed former Maple Leafs winger Ilya Mikheyev as a free agent. He is currently out of action with an injury suffered in the preseason. The Canucks also signed former Bruins fourth-liner Curtis Lazar for their bottom six.
Vancouver also went outside North America for a pair of acquisitions, bringing in center Nils Aman, a former Avs draftee who skated in his native Sweden last season. Aman has manned the middle of Vancouver's fourth line in each of the season's first two games. The Canucks also imported 26-year-old Russian winger Andrei Kuzmenko, who scored his first NHL goal in his first game on Wednesday against Edmonton. Kuzmenko signed a one-year deal with the Canucks after leading SKA St. Petersburg in scoring last season.
