Caps Make Quick Stop at Home to Host Bolts
Back from a season-long four-game road trip, the Caps stop home to host Tampa Bay before heading back out on the road on Wednesday
After concluding their longest road trip of the season on Monday afternoon in Buffalo with a 3-2 victory over the Sabres, the Caps make a quick stop at home to do some laundry and host the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday night in the final regular season game between the two former Southeast Division rivals this season.
The Caps concluded their four-game road trip on a high note, defeating the Sabres for the first time this season and getting back in the win column after an ugly 7-1 loss to the Hawks in Chicago on Saturday.
"They're right at the top," says Caps defenseman John Carlson of the Lightning. "So we know we've got to step it up, especially from Chicago and especially from [Monday], too. We're going to have to bring a lot more energy. I think we did that [on Monday], in the first two periods for sure, but we're going to need a more complete game."
The Caps and Sabres played to a scoreless first on Monday in Buffalo, and then Washington took a 1-0 lead in the second minute of the second period on Alex Ovechkin's 35th goal of the season. After Monday's game, Ovechkin admitted that Saturday's game in Chicago - the first time in his 979-game NHL career that he failed to as much as attempt a shot on goal - was the worst of his 13-year NHL career.
John Carlson netted his 11th goal of the season later in the second period, enabling the Caps to carry a two-goal cushion into the third. Buffalo pushed hard in the final frame, and the Sabres finally got on the board with a Kyle Okposo deflection goal at 12:42, but Evgeny Kuznetsov's expertly executed swipe and snipe with 25.9 seconds remaining restored the Caps' two-goal lead and left Sabres defenseman Risto Ristolainen looking sheepish after having his pocket picked.
Kuznetsov's goal became the game-winner when Evander Kane scored with 3.3 seconds remaining to account for the 3-2 final score.
"We definitely wanted a response," says Carlson, "but we wanted to win the game, too. We accomplished that and we know we've got to be a lot better. [We made] a lot of errors, and still tonight, the same thing. So it's something to build off, though, absolutely."
With Monday's win over the Sabres, the Caps have now defeated each of the other 15 teams in the Eastern Conference at least once this season. The Sabres come to the District on Saturday to wrap up their three-game season's series with the Capitals.
Tuesday's game against the Lightning starts a challenging stretch of scheduling in which Washington will play five games in eight nights, with no homestands or road trips longer than a single game during that span.
After hosting the Lightning on Tuesday, the Caps head right back on the road, traveling to Florida on Wednesday for a Thursday road game against the Panthers. The aforementioned home game with Buffalo follows on Saturday, and the Caps head back out on Sunday for a Monday game in Columbus on the night of the NHL's trade deadline. The stretch ends next Tuesday when the Caps host Ottawa in their third-to-last set of back-to-back games this season, and their final contest ahead of their March 3 Stadium Series game against Toronto in Annapolis.
"Yeah, it's a lot of travel," says Caps coach Barry Trotz. "The biggest thing when you come off a long road trip is you're unpacking, you're getting in, and now you've got to get revamped. There are some things at home pulling at you. If you have children, you want to see them; you miss them, your wife, all those things."
The overall effect of coming home from a four-game trip to play one game at home and then head right back out for another road game, is that it feels like a six-game road trip. The Caps will be in the D.C. area for less than 48 hours before heading right back out.
"And then we're basically playing a game and then leaving," says Trotz. "It's almost like our home game is a road game, because we're leaving here, we're going and traveling again, we play the game, and then we travel the next day. So it extends the road trip when you go on a long road trip, play a game [at home] and then go again. So it feels like one long road trip this month."
Tampa Bay comes to town for the second and final team this season on Tuesday. The Lightning has a tenuous hold on the top spot in the Atlantic Division, leading second-place Boston by a single point. But the Bruins hold two games in hand and are the current owners of the best record in the Eastern Conference, by the metric of points percentage.
The Lightning owns a four-point cushion over third-place Toronto, and the Bolts have two games in hand on the Maple Leafs. But since winning 31 of its first 43 games this season (31-9-3), the Lightning has been merely ordinary since, going 8-8-0 in its last 16 games.
After splitting a two-game homestand with a victory over Detroit and a loss to New Jersey, the Lightning opens up a three-game road trip in Washington on Tuesday. The Bolts will also make stops in Ottawa and Montreal, respectively, on their current journey.
