Caps Conclude Weekend Trip in Boston
Caps face Bruins for second time in four nights
The Caps conclude a two-game weekend road trip on Sunday night when they face the Bruins in Boston. Sunday's game in Beantown is a bit of a rematch; the two teams played on Thursday night in Washington with the B's prevailing 4-2.
Washington broke a drought of nearly seven straight periods without an even-strength goal early in Friday's win over Buffalo, and it scored all four of its goals in the game at evens, three at 5-on-5 and one at 4-on-4. Defensemen were involved in all four goals, and in-zone movement was crucial as well.
Jakub Vrana scored what would prove to be the game-winner at 9:48 of the third period, a shift after he and linemates Lars Eller and T.J. Oshie turned in a dominant offensive zone shift in the Buffalo end of the ice.
After the game, Eller credited the movement in the offensive zone for his line's success in Friday's win. Eller and/or his linemates played a role in three of Washington's four goals in the game.
"We were cycling, everybody is moving, we had five guys who are moving," says Eller. "Everybody's got more than one option all the time and it's very hard to defend against, and it just tires out the other team. That's the kind of game we can play really well; we're really good at it. Every time the forward comes up the wall, the [defenseman] shifts into the middle and down the flank on the other side and we become so much more dynamic in our offensive zone.
"If you look at [Brenden] Dillon's goal, that's what happened. Osh comes up, Dillon shifts into the middle. Schultzy's goal, I kind of win the face-off from the wall to him in the middle, he walks in and scores. And then V's goal at the end comes when we force a turnover, and again a play from the half wall into the middle, and Schultzy jumps into the middle.
"So we scored three goals off of just our [defensemen] being more dynamic and jumping into the play and moving on top. I think if we can do more of that, it will be such a huge weapon for us, that we've got to utilize more."
After three straight subpar starts to games - including Thursday's loss to the Bruins in the District - the Caps put together a good start in Friday's game against Buffalo. Dillon's opening salvo came on the Caps' first shot on net in the game, and Washington expanded that lead to 2-0 exactly nine minutes later when Alex Ovechkin netted his 21st goal of the season.
That swift start fueled the Caps. Buffalo answered Ovechkin's goal and pulled to within a goal on three different occasions, but the Caps continuously maintained the lead they gained on the Dillon goal for more than 57 minutes.
"We put an emphasis on it," says Dillon of his team's start. "We know that we're in a back-to-back situation, and every team is going through tough stretches of the schedule so we can't use that as an excuse of why we can't come out and play hard. I think tonight everybody really wanted to focus on our first shift of the game, and just being simple. Our offense is going to take care of itself, but when we're not turning pucks over or trying to make fancy plays, it usually works out like we want it to."
That said, there is much room for improvement. The Caps put together a string of strong starts to games last month, and they're capable of much better.
"I still think in the first period tonight we turned it over a little bit too much," says Caps coach Peter Laviolette. "But yet the score reflected differently, so now it's a good period. And I thought we got better at it again in the second and third period, just controlling the neutral zone and making better decisions and it puts us in the right places. I felt like [the Sabres] were less threatening as the game went on because we were playing in the offensive zone."
While Washington was enjoying a Saturday off in Boston, the Bruins were a few hours south on I-95, facing the Flyers in Philadelphia in a matinee match. The B's came out on the short end of a 3-2 score in that game, falling on Sean Couturier's third-period goal. Rookie goalie Jeremy Swayman - who earned his second NHL win on Thursday in Washington against the Capitals - suffered his first NHL loss on Saturday in Philly in a 20-save effort.
Heading into Sunday's NHL slate of activity, the Caps share the top spot in the East Division with the New York Islanders. Both teams have 56 points with 15 games remaining, and Pittsburgh is two points behind Washington and New York. Boston is running fourth with 48 points, but the Bruins hold three games in hand on each of the top three clubs in the division. If the B's were able to win those three games, they'd be tied with the Penguins.
