Caps Finish Trip in Carolina
Caps close out October with Monday match vs. Canes in Raleigh
The Caps hit the 10-game mark of the season, finish up the October portion of their slate and conclude a three-game road trip on Monday - Halloween night - in Raleigh against the Hurricanes. Monday's match is just the second the Caps have had against a Metro Division opponent this season.
Monday's game is the rubber match of the Caps' three-game journey. After dropping a 2-0 decision to the Stars in Dallas on Thursday, the Caps turned the trick themselves on Saturday night in Nashville, taking a hard-earned 3-0 whitewash win over the Predators. Darcy Kuemper made 34 saves on Saturday against the Preds, recording his first shutout as a member of the Capitals and the 26th of his NHL career.
Saturday's win in Music City did not come without a cost. The Caps lost right wing T.J. Oshie and defenseman John Carlson to lower body injuries in the first period, and the status of both players is unknown on the eve of Monday's game in Raleigh. The Capitals enjoyed an off day on Sunday.
With two top performers lost early in the evening and for the remainder of the game, the Caps did what they've frequently had to do for the last couple of seasons, band together and fight through some adversity to win a hockey game. And once again, a pair of their youngest players came through for them.
Beck Malenstyn scored the game's first goal midway through the second period and Aliaksei Protas followed up with a massive insurance tally at 6:44 of the third. Alex Ovechkin's empty-netter - the 784th goal of his NHL career - accounted for the 3-0 final.
"We're well-rehearsed in this," says Caps coach Peter Laviolette. "It's been this way for three years, where we've had to just keep filling holes in order to keep moving forward. And tonight was just another example of that.
"I really liked the game. I liked the directness of the game that we played, I liked the decisions that we made with the puck, I liked the way we defended. They're a physical team, so we had to show up and be physically ready, so there's a lot of positives from tonight."
Washington's penalty killers were also at their best in Saturday's win, and they turned in a fourth straight spotless game, killing off all five Nashville power plays. The Caps' penalty-killing outfit has now strung together 15 straight successful missions after some early season hiccups.
"I think [they're showing] a little more confidence in the game plan," says Kuemper of the Caps' penalty killers. "It's tough for the guys that have been killing the same way for a long time and all of a sudden they're asked to do something different. To get everyone on the same page, it takes a little bit of time, but I think you can see it growing and growing and getting more confident, and the results are coming as well."
Washington's penalty kill has climbed to 81.5% on the season and now ranks in the top half of the League. With their power play clicking at 20 percent on the season to date, the Caps have nudged their special teams index into triple digits (101.5) for the first time this season.
Carolina is off to a strong start to its season, and while the Caps were downing the Preds in Nashville on Saturday, the Canes were in Philadelphia, where they rallied from a 3-2 third-period deficit to pick up a 4-3 overtime victory over the Flyers, tying Philly for the top spot in the Metro Division standings in the process.
With just over two minutes remaining in regulation, Martin Necas tied it for Carolina and early in the final minute of overtime, Brent Burns won it for the Hurricanes.
The Canes spent a good chunk of October out west where they managed an impressive 3-1-1 mark in a five-game trip to the west coast and western Canada. Carolina continues to be a strong possession team, leading the NHL by controlling 63.6 percent of all shot attempts through its first eight games of the season.
