Caps Face Rangers in Road Finale
Caps conclude road portion of 2020-21 slate on Wednesday vs. Rangers at MSG
The Caps play their final road game of the 2020-21 regular season on Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden, taking on the Rangers in the finale of the season's series between the two teams.
All seven of the previous meetings between the Caps and Rangers were decided in regulation, with the Blueshirts winning four of them. Washington claimed its first win here this season on Monday night, playing with 10 forwards for virtually the entire game and rallying back from a 3-2 deficit to win 6-3.
Playing with fewer than the full complement of players for the first time in more than 17 years, the Capitals regained control of their own divisional destiny with the combination of Monday's victory and a Pittsburgh loss to the Flyers in Philadelphia. Six of Washington's 10 forwards found the back of the net in support of Vitek Vanecek who made 23 saves to earn his 19th win of the season, third most in franchise history for a rookie goaltender.
"He's been unbelievable all season for us," says Caps right wing Garnet Hathaway of Vanecek. "He has stepped up when we needed him to. We needed guys to play their best for us to win tonight and he is one of the guys that played really well. It's no surprise to me and I don't think it's a surprise to a lot of guys in the room. He made the saves that he had to make, and he made a lot that he probably didn't have to make, too. That helped us a lot."
Defenseman John Carlson returned after a two-game absence because of a lower body injury on Monday, and he logged a team-high 25:00 in ice time in the victory.
"I think we're all professionals we go about our business in a certain way," says Carlson of Monday's win. "We've just been answering the bell all year. I feel like we've had a lot of guys out - injured, or whatever it is - and you just see our level of compete go up. Players that need to step up, step up. Players that need to play bigger roles play bigger roles, and not just do the job but succeed at it. I think that's the sign of a really good team that has each other's backs."
With four games remaining, the Caps can clinch the East Division title by winning any three of them in regulation, regardless of what the other three teams do between now and May 11 when all the East clubs will be in the clubhouse.
"We want to win every single game," Carlson. "We want to win the division or whatever they're calling it. I think that would just be a by-product of what we want to accomplish in the last couple of games here. It's not something we talk about every single day, but certainly day-to-day and game-to-game our goal is to win every game. It kind of goes hand in hand with that."
Washington played without center Evgeny Kuznetsov (disciplinary), right wing T.J. Oshie (personal/family), goaltender Ilya Samsonov (disciplinary) and defenseman Justin Schultz (lower body), and it lost captain Alex Ovechkin after a single shift of Monday's game. According to Caps coach Peter Laviolette, Ovechkin is "unlikely" to play in Wednesday's rematch at MSG. The status of the others for Wednesday is unknown until Wednesday's morning skate at the earliest.
Just before the Caps went to MSG for an optional noon practice on Tuesday, they learned that Oshie's father, Tim, passed away. The elder Oshie was a beloved regular on the Caps' Mentors' Trips since the younger Oshie came to Washington in a July 2, 2015 trade with St. Louis.
"Your parents have a heavy influence on the imprint of your life as a child," says Laviolette. "And so to see what T.J. is as a person and as a teammate I think speaks volumes to his parents and the way he grew up."
"We love Osh," says Caps defenseman Brenden Dillon. "He's one of the best teammates, the best leaders, not just on our team but in the game of hockey. He makes it better when he is out there and being a part of the hockey community, so I know how big of a influence his dad was on him, 'Coach Osh. And even for a guy like myself that never got to meet him and got to spend time with him, you just hear nothing but great, positive and awesome things about him. It's a tough time."
