March 24 vs. Winnipeg Jets at Capital One Arena
Time: 12:30 p.m.
TV: MNMT
Stream: MonSports.net/Stream
Radio: 106.7 The Fan, Capitals Radio 24/7
Winnipeg Jets (44-21-5)
Washington Capitals (34-26-9)
On Sunday afternoon at Capital One Arena, the Caps will honor right wing T.J. Oshie for reaching the 1,000-games played milestone in the NHL, a feat he achieved last weekend in Vancouver. The ceremony and celebration will take place ahead of Sunday’s matinee match against the Winnipeg Jets, the last Western Conference opponent the Capitals will face this season.
With Sunday’s game against the Jets, Washington moves into the back half of what has been a high-event four-game homestand thus far. After dropping the homestand opener by a 7-3 count to Toronto on Wednesday, the Caps rallied to win a wild one on Friday night over Carolina, prevailing 7-6 in a shootout, in one of the wildest and craziest regular season games ever played in the quarter-century history of Capital One Arena.
Friday’s game could be pored over, dissected, discussed and analyzed for days, but the Caps’ schedule marches on; the win was ugly but uplifting, and the two points gained were critical, coming off the loss to the Leafs on Wednesday. The Caps can’t linger on Friday’s game; every game they play is crucially important as they vie for a Stanley Cup playoff berth in the season’s final weeks.
Winning Friday’s game was grinding and taxing, and it was achieved without a trio of top performers for the Caps – Oshie (upper body), forward Aliaksei Protas (lower body), and right wing Tom Wilson (NHL suspension). Wilson will sit out five more games, while the Caps have some hope of having Oshie and/or Protas back in the lineup on Sunday. Both were participants at Saturday’s optional practice at MedStar Capitals Iceplex, but their status for Sunday’s game will be determined on Sunday morning.
And whether Oshie or Protas – or both or neither – are in the lineup on Sunday or not, the Caps will move foward.
“I just think that’s maybe one of the strengths of our group and our staff,” says Caps’ coach Spencer Carbery. “You can sit and waste a lot of time on injuries, personnel, things that you don’t have, or adversity that’s put in front of you, or you can figure out a way to problem solve it. And I just think that’s the way that our players look at it, and us as a staff.
“’All right, what’s our group of 20? We need 12 forwards, six [defensemen], and two goaltenders, and let’s figure out how we’re going to win a hockey game.’ And let’s not waste our time on, ‘Oh, gosh, I wish we had this person. Oh, this person can’t play? That stinks.’
“We just move on, and we figure out a way to put ourselves in the best position possible to win that night. And then tomorrow comes, and we’ll see who’s available, and tackle that day. That’s been a lot of the season this year, but I think it prepares you and makes you a little bit mentally tougher for when you do go through situations where you lose a Tom Wilson, or T.J. Oshie isn’t able to play, and you’re able to say, ‘Okay, next man up. Let’s figure out a way to beat the Carolina Hurricanes.”
Or in Sunday’s case, the Winnipeg Jets. When the Caps faced the Jets in Winnipeg just under two weeks ago, they faced a dynamic Jets team with a significant burr under its collective saddle; the Jets had suffered an ugly 5-0 whitewash at the hands of the Canucks in Vancouver in their previous outing, and they had been called out by coach Rick Bowness for their lackluster performance.
The Jets got right against Washington, dominating them in all three zones in a 3-0 victory in the opening game of the Caps’ five-game journey out west. The Caps didn’t have an answer for Winnipeg’s stifling forecheck or its imposing combination of speed, skill and physicality. But they now know what to expect on Sunday.
“Hopefully we’re better prepared and better equipped to handle their [pressure],” says Carbery. “I just remember in their building, their pressure. They put us on our heels. Their [defense corps] are very, very aggressive, and all can skate really, really well. And that felt like we were smothered at times, and just could not get on their half of the rink, and we were constantly stalled through the neutral zone.
“That will be a real challenge, but hopefully we learn from that. We’ll show a bunch of stuff that [shows] us in that situation in their building, and we’re better prepared, and our guys will understand the challenges that will be faced [Sunday] afternoon.”
Winnipeg is the third straight opponent to come into town on the back half of a set of back-to-backs on this homestand. The Jets absorbed a 6-3 setback at the hands of the Islanders in New York on Saturday afternoon, so Winnipeg is likely to have a burr under its collective saddle once again on Sunday.
For the Jets, Sunday’s game is the finale – and rubber match – of a five-game road trip. After winning over the Blue Jackets in Columbus and the Rangers in New York to start the trip, Winnipeg stumbled in New Jersey and against the Isles on Saturday.
The Jets are embroiled in a tight, three-way battle for the top spot in the NHL’s Central Division, where two points separated Winnipeg from Colorado and Dallas. The Avalanche and Stars started Saturday sharing the top spot in the Central.
