Caps Clash with Pens
Caps open set of back-to-back weekend matinee matches in Pittsburgh on Saturday
The Capitals roll into their final dozen games of the season with a set of weekend back-to-backs against a pair of elite and playoff-bound Eastern Conference teams, starting with a Saturday matinee against the Penguins in Pittsburgh. Washington will then return home to take on the Boston Bruins in a Sunday matinee match at Capital One Arena.
Heading into Saturday's Metropolitan Division matchup, the Caps are six points behind Pittsburgh for third place in the Metro, and they hold two games in hand on the Penguins.
"It's huge," says Caps winger Anthony Mantha of Saturday's tilt. "We're only a couple of points behind them, and I think we have two games in hand. So like [Caps coach Peter Laviolette] said this morning, it's almost like a six-point game. Obviously, it's an afternoon game, so we need to be ready a little earlier, but I think our team has been pretty good at that, so far."
Washington concluded a four-game homestand on a winning note on Wednesday, downing the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-3 on the strength of a four-point night (two goals, two assists) from John Carlson.
"[It was] huge," says Mantha of the win over the Bolts. "We had some good talks in the room, and some good videos. We knew what we had to do - and obviously Tampa is a great team - and we played unreal."
Although the Caps yielded two goals to the Lightning in the first period of Wednesday's game, they mitigated that by scoring three times in the first themselves, and by scoring first and never surrendering the lead. Washington has yielded multiple goals in the first period of five of its last six home games and 13 of its last 20 games in the District.
Despite being dented for a couple of goals in the first period again, the Capitals' start was much better overall against the Lightning, and being able to take, add to, and then maintain the lead for the rest of the night was an encouraging sign for Washington, which had suffered a pair of lopsided losses at home before facing the Bolts.
"That was the goal, to find a way to get two points," says Caps defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk, "especially at home to try to get that momentum in these last dozen games or so, which are going to be huge for us. It was a little bit of a chaotic start, and we made the most of some chances. Obviously, we gave up maybe a little bit more than we wanted to, but we did a good job in the second and the third of just creating a little bit and not giving up too much."
Once again, the Caps are working through some things in the room, as Laviolette would put it. Right wing Garnet Hathaway missed the Tampa Bay game because of non-COVID illness, but he returned to the ice for Friday morning's practice at MedStar Capitals Iceplex. But winger Conor Sheary is the latest to fall victim to the non-COVID illness, and he did not practice on Friday.
The game against the Lightning was the Caps' 70th game of the season, the most they've played in the last three seasons.
"It probably feels a little different," says Caps defenseman Dmitry Orlov. "When you're playing a shorter schedule, you kind of forget how long it is and how tough it is to play 82 games. And right now we are coming into a tough stretch; every second day we play a game but first we have a tough set of back-to-backs. So we need to be smart with what we do with our recovery.
"It's important - especially before playoffs - to have a good month and find our way with how we're going to play and at the same time not get injured, but still play hard. You have to manage everything right and focus. All this month we play multiple times against teams who are going to be in playoffs and who we might see in the playoffs. We have to be all the time ready and focused on our game. The little things are going to make a difference, so we need to manage our game."
The Pens head into Saturday's game saddled with a three-game losing skid. After dropping both halves of a home-and-home set with the Colorado Avalanche, the Pens came up empty in a 3-0 shutout loss to the Rangers in New York on Thursday. Pittsburgh is 2-5-1 in its last eight games, and its lone regulation win over that span was an 11-2 beatdown of the Red Wings in Detroit on March 27.
Three games into their four-game season's series, the Caps hold a slight edge to date. The two teams split a pair of regulation games in Washington and the Caps emerged victorious in overtime in the previous game in Pittsburgh on Feb. 1. The Caps have claimed points in five of their last six visits to Pittsburgh (3-1-2) and are hopeful of mounting a late charge up the standings in the final dozen games of the campaign.
"There are some games in hand and we're going into their building for a big game," says Laviolette. "So it's a chance to move up the standings, and that's still a possibility.
"Anytime we play Pittsburgh, we've got to be on point with what we're doing. We've got to compete hard. They're a competitive group inside of the battles, they're a battle-ready group and you've got to be ready to compete with them in those battles. It should be a good game, but certainly the points are there for the taking. It could move us up the standings, and we still have a couple of games in hand."
