Caps Host Red Wings
Caps face Detroit for first time in nearly two years, hosting the Wings for first time in nearly three years
Two nights after winning a 7-5 barnburner over the Senators in Ottawa, the Caps return home for a two-game homestand that will conclude the October portion of their schedule. They'll take on the Detroit Red Wings at Capital One Arena on Wednesday night.
Back on March 12, 2020, the Caps were scheduled to host the Red Wings in a Thursday night contest at Cap One. But on that Thursday morning, the NHL announced it had suspended the 2019-20 season because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Caps never played their final 13 games, two of which were scheduled against Detroit, one at home and one on the road.
Wednesday night's meeting with the Red Wings marks the first time the two teams have met in nearly 23 months, since the Caps earned a 5-2 win in Detroit - on the strength of an Alex Ovechkin hat trick - on Nov. 30, 2019. Washington opened a four-game road trip in Motown that night, and it went on to run the table in California, returning home with a perfect 4-0-0 mark for the journey.
The last time Washington hosted the Wings was nearly three years ago, on Dec. 11, 2018. Ovechkin had a hat trick that night as well, in a 6-2 Caps victory.
Monday's win in Ottawa extended the Caps' season-opening point streak to six straight games (4-0-2). Washington opened last season with a franchise record nine-game point streak (6-0-3). The Caps are the only team in the League that has had a season-opening point streak of six or more games in each of the last two seasons.
Eleven of the 12 goals scored on Monday night came at 5-on-5, including all seven Washington goals. T.J. Oshie had a hat trick, Alex Ovechkin scored twice, Connor McMichael picked up his first two NHL points with a pair of assists, and five of the Caps' six defensemen picked up a point in the game.
"Osh did a lot of the heavy lifting," says McMichael. "He made a lot of great plays, but him and [Anthony Mantha] are great players. Like I've said before, playing with Osh is real easy, and having Mo out there made it even easier, so it was fun."
It's the first time in more than a decade that Washington managed seven or more 5-on-5 goals in the same game. Back on Feb. 16, 2011, the Caps forged a 7-6 win over the Ducks in Anaheim with all seven Washington goals coming at 5-on-5. Alexander Semin had a hat trick while Ovechkin, Mike Knuble, Brooks Laich and Dave Steckel also scored. Karl Alzner sprinkled in three assists.
Ovechkin has recorded a point in each of Washington's six games (seven goals, five assists) this season, and he leads the NHL in goals. Linemates Evgeny Kuznetsov (four goals, five assists) and Tom Wilson (seven assists, career-high five-game assist streak) are also off to strong offensive starts for the Capitals, whose total of 20 goals at 5-on-5 is tops in the NHL.
"I think our line has played good," says Ovechkin. "Obviously when we play simple, we move the puck in the offensive zone and move our legs in the neutral zone, it gives us more opportunity to create and have chances. Obviously Kuzy right now feels it, and Willy is always Willy. He is always going. I just try to find an open spot and put the puck in."
The Caps also allowed four goals at 5-on-5 on Monday night, which is one more than they allowed in the season's first five games combined. After roaring out to a 4-1 lead in the first, the Caps found themselves even with the Sens at 4-4 before the second period was 12 minutes old.
"It wasn't a great period for us," says Caps coach Peter Laviolette. "Just things that happened in the game, we could have tried to control them a little bit better. But you've got to like the bounce back [to win the game]."
Washington went through the opposite scenario in its previous home game, a 4-3 overtime loss to Calgary on Saturday afternoon. In that contest, it was the Caps digging a three-goal deficit for themselves in the first before roaring back to tie the game in the second.
"When you go into any team's rink and outplay them in the first period like I think we did," begins Caps defenseman Nick Jensen, "you can't come out in the second and not expect them to come out with some fire. But we kind of opened the door for them. We didn't come out ready in the second, and they obviously came out and pushed hard, which we expected and which any team should do."
The Wings opened the season with a four-game homestand, going 2-1-1 before taking to the road for a three-game journey, a trip that ends in the District on Wednesday. Detroit started the trip on the wrong end of a 6-1 drubbing in Montreal before rebounding for a 6-3 win over the Blackhawks in Chicago a night later.
In the victory in Chicago, 19-year-old Red Wings rookie Lucas Raymond notched his first career hat trick. In doing so, he joined Detroit GM - and Hockey Hall of Famer - Steve Yzerman as just the second teenager to score three goals in a game for the Wings. Raymond also added an assist against the Hawks to join Yzerman and the legendary Gordie Howe as the only three Detroit skaters to collect four points in a game as teenagers.
Six games into his first NHL season, Raymond has four goals and seven points while averaging 15:03 per night in ice time.
