Caps Host Pens in Pair of Games
More than two months after their last meeting, the Caps and Pens tangle on Thursday in DC with the division lead at stake
For the better part of the last week, the Caps were embroiled in a three-game series with the New York Islanders for the top spot in the NHL's East Division. After winning all three of those games to put five points worth of distance between themselves and the Isles, the Caps now face the Pittsburgh Penguins in a pair of home games - on Thursday and Saturday nights - with the top perch in the East at stake once again. A single standings point separates Washington and Pittsburgh heading into Thursday's contest.
In a shortened 56-game season in which every team in the East faces every other divisional denizen eight times, it's odd to go more than two months without seeing any single opponent. Yet that's the situation the Caps and Pens find themselves in as they prepare to renew acquaintance on Thursday. The Caps faced the Penguins six times in their first 19 games this season, but haven't seen them since Feb. 25 when they downed Pittsburgh by a 5-2 count here in the District. All six of the early season meetings between the two teams were played without fans in the building, and both teams have played extremely well overall since their last meeting here more than two months ago.
"It's going to feel like the first game of the season against them," says Washington winger Carl Hagelin, a former Penguin who played for two Stanley Cup winners during his days in Pittsburgh. "It's been two months, and a lot of hockey has been played in those two months since we played them. Both teams have changed, and we're looking forward to the challenge. We know what type of team they are, and they've obviously found a way to keep winning games with a lot of injuries."
Washington is 22-8-0 since its last meeting with Pittsburgh, the fourth best record in the NHL over that span. The Penguins are 22-8-2 over the same stretch, sixth best in the League. The Penguins are fourth in average goals per game (3.56) over that span while Washington is fifth (3.47). Pittsburgh's 2.41 goals against per game is fifth while the Caps' 2.63 is tied for 11th.
The Caps have won four of their last five games and seven of their last nine, and they're carrying a three-game winning streak into Thursday's game. All three of those wins came at the Islanders' expense, and the Caps held the Isles to zero goals at 5-on-5 in the three wins.
"I think it gives it gives us a lot of confidence going down the stretch here," says Hagelin. "We know that defensively, we've been given up a few too many goals as of late and the way that we played and as hard we played, that's got to be the standard. We're going into the playoffs, and we have to do that on every single shift, every single night.
"I think we've got to continue doing that. We've got some more games here. We're playing a better offensive team next game in Pittsburgh, so if we don't bring this, they're going to score a lot of goals."
Heading into Thursday's game with the Penguins, Caps goaltenders have not allowed an even-strength goal in the last 207 minutes and 15 seconds of game time, dating back to the second period of a 6-3 loss to the Bruins in Boston on April 18.
Not only are the Caps spending more time in the offensive zone, they've been effective at holding onto pucks, starting up the cycle game and remaining in the zone rather than ending up with a one-and-done situation. But they're also getting pucks to the net, even if a pair of 1-0 outcomes in the last three games doesn't necessarily reflect that.
"I think it's a combination of both," says Caps coach Peter Laviolette. "There's still 65-66 attempts at the net so I think it needs to be a combination of both. I think you need to stay in the offensive zone, I think you need to put pucks at the net, I think you need to recover the pucks, and then continue to move and hunt and look - utilize all five players in the whole zone.
"That's where I thought it was really good [in the games vs. the Isles]. It wasn't just one and done, whether there was a shot or no shot. We recovered the puck, we moved it and we used the whole zone and we used all five players. And when you do that, you can stay in there and start to grind them."
Pittsburgh had its four-game winning streak snapped on Tuesday in a 3-1 home ice loss to the Boston Bruins, a setback that dropped the Pens' home ice record to 20-4-2 on the season. The Penguins are the League's only team with as many as 20 victories at home this season.
Although the Pens are a more pedestrian 12-11-1 on the road, they've won eight of their last dozen games away from the Steel City (8-4-0).
The Pens have scored four or more goals in nine of their last 14 games, so keeping them quiet offensively will be a bigger challenge for Washington than it was in the last three games against the Isles. Pittsburgh may also be on the verge of getting healthier as forwards Evgeni Malkin, Brandon Tanev and Freddie Gaudreau practiced fully with the team on Wednesday and are all expected to make the trip to the District.
Malkin (lower body) has missed the last 21 games, Tanev (upper body) the last 11 and Gaudreau (lower body) the last seven.
