Caps Finish Homestand vs. Kraken
NHL's newest team makes first District visit on Saturday night
The Capitals conclude a three-game homestand on Saturday night against the expansion Seattle Kraken at Capital One Arena. Saturday's game marks Seattle's first ever visit to the District, and it will be the rubber game of the homestand.
Washington fell 5-3 to Toronto on Monday before blanking the Carolina Hurricanes by a 4-0 count on Thursday to quell a six-game home losing streak. Coming off injured reserve and making his first NHL start in over a month, Vitek Vanecek turned aside all 36 shots he faced - including 17 in the third period - to earn his third shutout of the season, all within his last eight starts.
Vanecek's 36-save whitewash of Carolina marked the most saves in a shutout by a Caps goalie since Philipp Grubauer stopped 39 shots in a 1-0 win over the Red Wings in Detroit on March 22, 2018. Grubauer is now a member of the Kraken.
Prior to Thursday's game with the Canes, Caps coach Peter Laviolette discussed the need for his team to have layers of defense against a swift and opportunistic Carolina attack that had more rush chances than Washington would have liked in the previous meeting between the two teams in November.
"In the second period, they got a couple [rush chances]," says Laviolette of Thursday's game. "They got behind us, and that's when Vitek made a couple of big saves. I don't think he had any [difficult] chances in the first period, but in the second there were four or five, and on two of them they did get behind us. That's where you've just got to be careful against a team like that. They're so fast, they're so quick to offense that you've' got to make sure that you have the layers.
"In the first period, I thought we were excellent. We got it behind them and played in the offensive zone and we were really competitive in the battle. In the second period, [we made] a couple of mistakes but our goaltender bailed us out."
Facing the League's top penalty killing team, the Caps struck for two power-play goals in Thursday's victory, including their first 5-on-3 extra-man tally of the season. It marked just the third time in 54 games this season that the Hurricanes were dented for multiple power-play goals in the same game.
Evgeny Kuznetsov scored the 5-on-3 marker - which also turned out to be the game-winner - and Alex Ovechkin scored on the power play in the third period, his 33rd goal of the season and the 763rd of his NHL career. He is now four goals away from surpassing Jaromir Jagr (766) for third place on the League's all-time goals ledger.
Washington's power play unit has quietly put together a strong stretch of late. The Caps have scored at least one power-play goal in nine of their last dozen games, going 11-for-41 (26.8 percent) and ranking fifth in the NHL over that span.
In addition to Vanecek's strong outing, the Caps were boosted by the return of winger Anthony Mantha in the win over Carolina. Hours before the game, Mantha came off long term injured reserve, where he had been since suffering a shoulder injury that required surgery in a Nov. 4 game against the Panthers in Florida.
Playing on a line with Nicklas Backstrom and T. J. Oshie, Mantha skated over 16 minutes and didn't show any outward signs of rust.
"I thought the line was really good, all three of them," says Caps coach Peter Laviolette. "They were smart with the puck, they made good decisions, they found themselves in the offensive zone quite a bit. And then they're three talented players, and they were able to generate some chances from that."
The Capitals enjoyed a day off the ice sheet on Friday, but they did make a roster move. Washington recalled left wing Axel Jonsson-Fjallby from AHL Hershey on Friday. With 16 goals and 34 points in 44 games with the Bears this season, Jonsson-Fjallby leads the team in goals and is tied for second in points. He has played nine games with Washington this season, recording one assist.
For the Kraken, Saturday's game is the opener of a five-game road trip over a span of eight nights, and it's also the front end of a set of back-to-backs. Seattle visits Carolina on Sunday night. The Kraken is coming off a 4-3 home ice win over Nashville on Wednesday, a victory that halted a seven-game slide (0-6-1).
Seattle has yet to string together more than two successive wins in its inaugural season in the NHL. In its first-ever meeting with the Caps in Seattle on Nov. 21, the Kraken prevailed by a 5-2 count.
