Caps Face Sens in Ottawa
Thursday visit to Ottawa starts a set of back-to-backs ahead of NHL's three-day holiday break
The Caps take to the road on Thursday night, heading north of the border for the front end of a set of back-to-back games ahead of the NHL's annual three-day holiday break. Washington takes on the Senators in Ottawa on Thursday, then it returns home to host the Winnipeg Jets on Friday night at Capital One Arena.
Washington arrives in Ottawa with seven wins in its last eight games, and with a 10-3-1 record over its last 14 contests. The Caps come to Canada's capital city on the heels of a 2-1-0 homestand in which they won each of the last two games, most recently rallying to defeat Detroit 4-3 in overtime on Monday night.
Down 2-0 after 20 minutes of play, the Caps got even on a pair of Nic Dowd goals in back half of the second period. Seventy seconds after falling down 3-2 early in the third, Caps defenseman Erik Gustafsson netted his fourth goal in two games to even the score, and the Washington prevailed when Dmitry Orlov drilled a one-timer home with 21.2 seconds left in overtime.
"That was huge," said Dowd of the come-from-behind win. "I don't know if we've had one of those in our building this year; if we have correct me [they have]. And then to come from behind and then come from behind again on the very next shift, and then to win in overtime - especially like that; that was one of our biggest crowds of the year - that felt really good for our team."
With Monday's win, the Caps have reached actual .500 (17 wins in 34 games) for the first time since the outset of November; they woke up with a 5-4-1 record on Nov. 1. Their recent hot spell has lifted them to the outskirts of the playoff chase. And while the Caps have only climbed from seventh to sixth in the Metropolitan Division since the morning of Nov. 23, they've closed the gap between themselves and the very top of the division from 15 to just eight points in that span.
Coming off that uplifting victory over Detroit, the Caps found themselves with the rare luxury of more than one day between games for the first time in three weeks. After taking Tuesday off, the Caps reconvened for a full and hourlong practice on Wednesday morning ahead of their flight to Ottawa. Wednesday's practice also marked the return of a trio of injured Caps with regular sweaters: Alex Alexeyev (upper body), Beck Malenstyn (finger) and Tom Wilson (knee) were all full participants, and each has shed the non-contact sweater they had previously been wearing. Defenseman Martin Fehervary (upper body) was in a non-contact sweater. Nicklas Backstrom (hip) was also a full participant in practice, but he had already graduated to full contact sweater status last week.
"We haven't practiced for an hour in forever," says Caps coach Peter Laviolette. "Guys got a day off, and it was a well-deserved day off just to take a break. But we've got to get back to work now. There's two games left before Christmas and we've got to make sure we're ready to play."
Soon after Monday's win over the Wings, the Caps reassigned defenseman Lucas Johansen to AHL Hershey, a sign that Alexeyev is ready to return to action. The rookie blueliner is joining the Caps on their trip to Ottawa, as is center Nic Dowd, who missed Wednesday's practice with a non-Covid illness, the same one that recently caused both Lars Eller and Sonny Milano to miss a game.
Neither Backstrom nor Malenstyn nor Wilson will make the trip, and all are unlikely to play until after the NHL's holiday roster freeze expires, at the earliest.
T.J. Oshie (upper body) was not on the ice, and Laviolette declared him out of each of the two games ahead of the holiday break. Oshie left Saturday's game against Toronto midway through the second period and did not play against Detroit on Monday.
"We won't see him for the next two games," says Laviolette. "And then the break gives that extended time. And then when he comes back, we'll assess where he is at and where [his injury] is at. So instead of day-to-day, it'll be close to a week by the time we're back. And then we'll see where it's at and give you an update then."
On the good news front, Darcy Kuemper is back and ready to roll. He backed up Charlie Lindgren on Monday against the Wings, but with a set of back-to-backs going into the holiday break, it's likely we will see Lindgren and Kuemper in these next two games, at Ottawa and at home against the Jets.
"I'm excited to be back out on the ice," says Kuemper. "It's never fun watching. It's a little bit easier when the team was playing so well and having so much success. You don't feel guilty that you're not out there helping, but good to be healthy again, feeling good and ready to play."
Lindgren started eight straight games - matching a career high - in Kuemper's absence, and played extremely well, winning seven of the eight games while posting a 2.00 GAA and a .930 save pct.
"He was on fire in there, and I think the team really rallied around that," says Kuemper. "I was super happy for him and happy for our group. We needed the points, so it was nice to see the guys get on a roll."
Now the Caps will look to stay on a roll against an Ottawa team that defeated the Caps in Canada on Oct. 20, a game in which Washington forged an early 2-0 lead on a pair of power-play goals only to yield five unanswered goals to the Sens thereafter.
Ottawa comes into Thursday's game on the heels of a 5-1 loss to the Jets in Winnipeg on Tuesday. That loss sent the Sens home with a 1-2-0 record from a three-game trip, with the two losses coming consecutively at Minnesota and Winnipeg, respectively, in the final two stops of the journey.
Before those two losses, Ottawa was on a roll of its own. The Senators went into that Minnesota game with an impressive 8-2-1 record in their previous 11 games, dating back to Black Friday.
