Dec. 7 vs. Dallas Stars at Capital One Arena
Time: 8:00 p.m.
TV: ESPN
Radio: 106.7 The Fan, Capitals Radio 24/7
Dallas Stars (14-7-3)
Washington Capitals (12-8-2)
Back in town after a five-game western road trip, the Caps open their only homestand of December – a brief two-game stay – on Thursday night against the Dallas Stars. Thursday’s game is the first of just five home games this month for Washington, the last three of which are single-game events. Thursday’s game is also the Caps’ first home game in a span of 13 days.
At this time last week, the Caps were in the process of earning a sweep in a set of back-to-backs in Los Angeles and Anaheim, respectively. Their 5-4 triumph over the Ducks last Thursday featured a Tom Wilson hat trick, and a quartet of first-period goals, their most prolific first frame offensive output in more than 15 years.
But when the Caps moved on to the desert portion of the trip, the offensive bounty became a mirage; Washington managed to score just once in dropping the final two games of the trip in Vegas and Arizona, respectively. Wilson scored the goal in Vegas; he netted four of the nine Washington goals on the trip, the team’s longest of the season. Coming into Thursday's game, Wilson has scored four of the Caps' last six goals in a span of three games.
“It was a long trip,” says Wilson. “There were a couple of times on the trip where we had to pick ourselves up and keep going, and 12 days later, we’re back here. [There were] ups and downs, but at times some pretty good hockey, and we beat some good teams. Coming home, we’ve got to keep the momentum going from the positives, get the home wins, and keep building from here.”
“There were lots of ups and downs,” echoes Connor McMichael. “Some games, there were lots of positives, and some games there were lots of things that we needed to clean up. But I thought it was an alright trip. Obviously, we didn’t get the results that we wanted, but we’re just looking to get back home and to pick up the pace.”
Trying to do exactly that against a strong Dallas team on Thursday, the Caps are sitting on consecutive regulation losses for the second time this season. The first time they were faced with that situation, the Capitals swept the Kings and Ducks. But including that sweep, they’re 2-4-0 in their last six games overall, getting outscored by an aggregate 22-9 in the process.
“Not to oversimplify, we need to play better,” says Caps’ coach Spencer Carbery. “We need to play up to our capability and our standard, and we showed a little bit of that through the road trip.
“I think the last game [a 6-0 loss in Arizona on Monday] is a little bit of an outlier just because – and I said this after the game – I liked our start. And the game gets away from us in a six-minute span that essentially decides the 60 minutes, to where the second and third periods are irrelevant from a film standpoint.
“There are some things from the trip that we’re still trying to work through. It’s still trying to improve offensively and finishing; we’ve been shutout three of the last six games, right? We’ve got to find ways to score, and to spend more time in the offensive zone and create secondary chances. And you’ve heard me say this a lot this year, that’s an area that we have to continue to grow in, if we’re going to be able to play with the elite teams in the League.”
The Caps have actually been blanked in only two of their last six games, but it took Wilson’s 6-on-5 goal late in the Vegas loss on Saturday night to avoid a whitewash that night. But Washington has suffered four shutout losses – half of its total of eight regulation defeats – in 22 games this season.
When they score two or more goals this season, the Caps are 12-0-2. When they score fewer than two, they’re 0-8-0.
“I think it’s a little bit different on any given night,” says Wilson, “but we’ve got to find consistency – getting pucks to the net, creating second looks, second chances. At times, it’s coming good and coming a little easier, and at times it’s tougher. On the tougher nights, we’ve just got to make our breaks, make sure we’re working through it, and just try to get to the net a little bit more, and to make it more difficult on the goalie.”
Dallas will be hungry – if weary – when it hits town for the finale of a three-game road trip in the District. Like the Caps, the Stars enter Thursday’s game on the heels of consecutive losses in regulation.
Dallas opened its trip with a 4-0 loss to the Lightning on Monday, and it fell 5-4 to the Panthers in Florida on Wednesday night. The Stars’ most recent win was a Saturday’s 8-1 blasting of the Bolts in Dallas. Down 3-1 entering the third against Florida, the Stars battled back to even the game at 3-3 early in the frame. But a bad bounce and a bad call later, they were down two goals again.
Even with the two losses, Dallas sits in second place in the Central Division, three points behind Colorado. Following Thursday’s game with the Caps, the Stars head back home to start a three-game homestand on Saturday against Vegas.
