Caps Host Ducks on Monday
Anaheim hits town for first time in over two years as Caps' homestand continues
The Capitals head into the back half of a four-game homestand on Monday night when they host the Anaheim Ducks at Capital One Arena. The game finishes off the season's series between the Caps and the Ducks, who defeated Washington 3-2 in overtime at Honda Center on Nov. 16. The Ducks are visiting the District for the first time in just over two years, since a 5-2 Washington win on Nov. 8, 2019.
Heading into Monday night's game with the Ducks, the Caps are 10-2-2 in their last 14 games, outscoring the opposition by a combined 51-32 during that run. Most recently, the Caps beat the Blue Jackets 3-1 here on Saturday night, limiting Columbus to just 18 shots - a single-game low for the season - and getting through the game without having to kill a penalty for the first time in nearly two years.
The Caps held Columbus to two shots on net in the second period, and they carried a 2-0 lead into the third on a first-period goal from Aliaksei Protas and a second-period tally from Alex Ovechkin, his 20th of the season and the 750th of his NHL career. The Jackets pulled to within a goal early in the third, but the Caps were detailed and disciplined down the stretch, and Garnet Hathaway restored the two-goal lead with a late empty-netter.
In the end, Ilya Samsonov improved to 10-1-1 on the season with a 17-save effort. The win over Columbus pushed Washington's record against divisional opponents to 6-1-0.
Both T.J. Oshie and Conor Sheary returned to the lineup after absences of six games each, but Nic Dowd and Trevor van Riemsdyk missed Saturday's game with Columbus after being placed in COVID-19 protocol.
"It felt fast out there," says Oshie. "I felt a little rusty, but I haven't been skating too much, so I think it was to be expected. All in all ,playing with [Connor McMichael] and Shears, they did a good job of winning battles and getting pucks deep.
"We didn't spend too much time in our [defensive] zone - a little more than we would have liked but still not a whole ton - so it was good. I'll tell you what, it was really nice to be out there rather than up in the rafters."
With van Riemsdyk unavailable, Matt Irwin made his Caps debut on Saturday and put forth a solid and workmanlike night with 17:49 in ice time and five shots on net, tied for the most on the team. A healthy extra for the first two dozen games of the season, Irwin hadn't played an NHL game since April 17, but he's been ready and waiting and showed no visible signs of rust.
"You've just got to work hard every day," said Irwin after the game. "It's so cliché, but practices are your games. Off-ice training is important to stay in shape. All that stuff, just working and watching video, working with the other guys that aren't playing, and staying positive - being a good teammate.
"You don't know when you're going to get in, and obviously you've just got to be ready every day because nowadays you just don't know what's going to happen. Today was another example of that."
Through Saturday night's slate of NHL activity, the Caps' total of 25 games played was most among the octet of Metropolitan Division occupants, and they've played 14 games in a stretch of 27 nights. After Saturday's victory, the Caps earned a day off on Sunday. Once they get on the other side of Monday's game against the Ducks, the Caps will have a chance to catch their collective breath a bit; they'll have more than two days between games for the first time since the season got underway on Oct. 13.
Anaheim has also played 25 games, tied for most in the League to this point of the season. Early in the campaign, the Ducks suffered through a six-game slide (0-3-3) but followed that with an eight-game winning streak, stretching it to eight with the aforementioned win over Washington in Anaheim last month. Since then, the Ducks are 3-4-1. Most recently, they dropped a 4-3 shootout decision to Calgary on Friday in Anaheim.
Monday's game in Washington starts a five-game trip for the Ducks, who will play those five games in five cities in seven nights, as the Caps did last month when they visited Anaheim. The Ducks are also opening a set of back-to-backs with Monday's game in D.C.; they face the Sabres in Buffalo on Tuesday.
