Wednesday's win was Holtby's fourth in a row, and it was the first of those four in which he allowed as many as three goals. Since the All-Star break, Holtby is 8-4-1 with a 2.54 GAA and a .919 save pct.
Washington has also displayed a diverse attack as of late. All four lines scored a five-on-five goal in the game against the Flyers, and the power play chipped in with its seventh goal in the last eight games (7-for-21, 33.3 percent). The Caps' five-game winning streak started with a 6-5 overtime win over the Rangers on Feb. 24, the first game in which trade deadline acquisitions Carl Hagelin and Nick Jensen both skated.
"I think we're playing with a different confidence lately and I think everyone is aware of the situation and how we have got to win a lot of games that are left here," says Backstrom. "We're in a good position right now, but it's a tight race here, and a lot of teams coming from behind so we're just playing with good confidence, playing really good defense. Other than maybe the last period here [on Wednesday], but I feel like we're on the right path here."
When Andre Burakovsky netted his 10th goal of the season against the Flyers, giving the Caps nine players with double-digit goal totals. Lars Eller and Matt Niskanen are knocking at the door with eight each. When the Caps won the Stanley Cup last season, they had 11 players with double-digit goal totals during the regular season, though only three of those players reached the 20-goal level. This season, the Caps have two players - Alex Ovechkin and T.J. Oshie - with 20 or more goals, but they have five players bunched between 16 and 19 who could reach the coveted milestone over the season's final 15 games.
Friday's meeting between Washington and New Jersey is the first between the two teams in more than three months, since the Caps took a 6-3 decision from the Devils in the District on Nov. 30. New Jersey whitewashed the Caps 6-0 behind Keith Kinkaid in Newark on Oct. 11 in the first meeting between the two teams. The Devils shipped Kinkaid to Columbus ahead of the trade deadline, and they're currently operating with Cory Schneider and rookie Mackenzie Blackwood sharing the netminding chores.
The Devils are also operating at a disadvantage of late, with a staggering number of key performers on the sidelines with a variety of maladies. Seven Devils are not expected to make the trip to D.C., including top six forwards Nico Hischier, Taylor Hall and Jesper Bratt. Several other players - including leading scorer Kyle Palmieri and top ice time defenseman Sami Vatanen - are questionable for Friday.
New Jersey roared out of the starting gate with four straight wins to start the season in October, but it has been able to string together as many as three straight wins only once since. The depleted Devils will be dragging a four-game losing streak into Friday's game, a skid in which they've scored a total of just five goals. New Jersey is without a power-play goal in its last eight games, going 0-for-18 with the extra man over that stretch.
