Caps Conclude Trip vs. Kraken
Caps make their first ever visit to Seattle, finishing a four-game trip and their third set of back-to-backs in 11 days
The Caps conclude a weeklong four-game West Coast road trip on Sunday night in Seattle, visiting the Emerald City for the first time to take on the expansion Seattle Kraken. The game also concludes the Capitals' third set of back-to-back games in 11 nights; they blanked the Sharks in San Jose on Saturday night, 4-0.
After whitewashing the Kings on 34 shots in Los Angeles on Wednesday night, Ilya Samsonov recorded a second straight shutout on Saturday in San Jose against the Sharks, stopping 22 shots to become the first Washington netminder to record consecutive shutouts on the road in more than 33 years.
"I really like how I feel right now," says Samsonov. "There are a lot of positives in my game. The team played pretty good too. It's an unbelievable job. We have a hard schedule right now, we have to play back-to-back. But the team is working hard every shift. It was a hard game, too. Thank you for my teammates."
Braden Holtby was the last Caps goalie to notch back-to-back blankings; he turned the trick Jan. 5-7, 2017 against Columbus and Ottawa, respectively. The first of Holtby's shutouts came on home ice. Clint Malarchuk was the last Washington goaltender to record back-to-back shutouts on the road, and he did it on consecutive nights to boot. In the middle of a five-game road trip, Malarchuk shutout the Jets in Winnipeg by a 6-0 count on Feb. 19, 1988 and he blanked the North Stars in Minnesota a night later, 3-0.
Conor Sheary and Alex Ovechkin each scored twice in support of Samsonov, who now has six career shutouts in just 46 starts.
"I hope he's going to play like that for the rest of the year," says Ovechkin of Samsonov. "I think him and Vitek [Vanecek] play solid. For us, it's very important that we have two good goalies who, if we make mistakes, they're going to stop it. It's mentally very important, and for them as well."
Saturday's victory in San Jose extends the Capitals' point streak to seven straight games (6-0-1), and it has been primarily achieved during one of the team's most rugged patches of scheduling this season. Sunday's game in Seattle concludes a stretch of seven games in seven cities in 11 nights for the Caps, and six of those games have been played on the road in the form of three sets of back-to-back contests.
The Caps are now 5-0-1 since the beginning of that seven-game gantlet, which mercifully concludes on Sunday in Seattle. Washington has recorded three shutouts in those six games - all of them on the road - and the Caps have yielded just seven goals in their last six games, all of them at even strength. Washington has allowed 2.17 goals per game this season, the third-stingiest rate in the League.
After they've finished playing these three sets of back-to-back games squeezed into an 11-day span, the Caps will face just one set of games on consecutive nights in a span of 46 days. They're eager to end that stretch and to get back home for Thanksgiving week, but they're also eager to go to Seattle for the first time.
"I heard it's a pretty sick atmosphere out there," says Ovechkin. "We will see. New place, new game, you know."
The novelty of facing a new team in a new building at the end of a grueling road stretch could help the Caps power through Sunday's trip finale against the Kraken before they finally head home on Monday.
"I think guys are excited to go there and check it out, see what it's all about - the building and the new team," says Caps coach Peter Laviolette. "And we could use that, too. It's been a grind. This will be the seventh game in 11 days, with three back-to-backs in there. So we'll take anything that can boost us."
Seattle has struggled in its first season, winning four of its first 17 games. Three of those victories have come on home ice. The Kraken won its second game of the season in Nashville on Oct. 14 for its only road victory, and it was a respectable 3-4-1 after the first eight games of its maiden season.
But since winning two straight games for the first time in its existence late last month, Seattle has fallen on hard times. The Kraken has lost eight of its last nine, with all the losses coming in regulation.
Sunday's game against the Caps is the fifth game in a six-game homestand for Seattle. After hosting Carolina on Wednesday, the Kraken departs for a four-game road trip.
