March 14 vs. Seattle Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena
Time: 10:00 p.m.
TV: MNMT
Stream: MonSports.net/Stream
Radio: 106.7 The Fan, Capitals Radio 24/7
Washington Capitals (30-25-9)
Seattle Kraken (28-24-12)
The Caps’ weeklong tour of the western part of the continent continues on Thursday in Seattle when they take on the Kraken in the middle match of the five-game trip. Thursday’s game also concludes a set of back-to-back games for Washington; the Caps absorbed a 7-2 thumping at the hands of the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday night.
Coupled with Monday’s 3-0 loss to the Jets in Winnipeg in the trip opener, Washington is now saddled with consecutive regulation losses for the first time in more than a month. As they vie to claw their way back into the playoff picture, the Caps know they must steer themselves out of this skid, and quickly.
“Obviously, we didn’t like the game tonight,” said Washington’s Tom Wilson in the wake of Wednesday’s defeat. “We’ve got to have a short memory; we’ve got to take [Thursday] night. We need to be better, obviously. These are huge, huge games right now.”
The Caps got behind the eight ball early in Edmonton, taking two hi-sticking minors – one of them a double minor – before the game’s first television timeout. Edmonton scored twice with the extra man to take an early 2-0 advantage.
To their credit, the Caps quickly rallied, scoring on their first two shots on net. Ivan Miroshnichenko netted the second goal of his NHL career to halve the Oilers’ lead, and then Connor McMichael drew the Caps even on a Washington power play, just after the midpoint of the first. But the Oilers regained the lead on the very next shift, taking a 3-2 lead on a Zach Hyman goal, the first lamplighter of a natural hat trick for the Edmonton winger.
The Caps were just a goal down for more than 22 minutes of playing time, but Hyman struck twice late in the second as the Oilers won going away.
Down to just 18 games remaining on the season, the Caps still harbor hopes of landing a berth in the Stanley Cup playoffs. They currently trail the eighth-place New York Islanders by three points, but every loss leaves them with less rope to pull. With three games remaining on the trip, they know they need to turn things around on Thursday in Seattle.
“We’ve just got to find a way, in a difficult circumstance – travel, back-to-back, a team waiting for us,” says Caps’ coach Spencer Carbery. “We’ve just got to dig in and find a way to – not necessarily to win or [get] two points and that – keep a game tight, and give us a chance to win a hockey game, and that’s what we’re focused on [Thursday].”
Seattle’s own fading playoff hopes are likely dimmer than those of the Capitals. Now in their third season of NHL existence, the Kraken took their first trip to the playoffs last season, finishing with 100 points on the nose. Seattle then upset the defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche in a seven-game series in the first round before bowing out to Dallas in the second.
This season, the Kraken opened with four straight losses (0-3-1), and it dropped eight straight (0-6-2) during a rugged stretch in late November and early December. Seattle didn’t manage to string together as many as three straight victories until it won nine straight from Dec. 20, 2023 to Jan. 13, 2024. That streak included a 4-1 victory over the Capitals in Washington on Jan. 11, and it’s the only time this season that Seattle has managed to string together more than two victories consecutively.
Since that nine-game winning spree ended two months ago, Seattle has won only nine of 22 games (9-10-3), and it has fallen nine points off the pace currently being set by the defending Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights, the current occupants of the eighth seed in the Western Conference standings.
Washington’s visit is the third game in a five-game homestand for the Kraken. After being blanked at the hands of Winnipeg in the opener this past Friday, the Kraken had an opportunity to gain on Vegas when it hosted the Golden Knights on Tuesday at Climate Pledge Arena.
Midway through the third period, the Kraken forged a 4-2 lead on an Oliver Bjorkstrand goal. But Vegas rallied to tie the game late, and Jonathan Marchessault’s goal with less than 20 seconds remaining in regulation forced overtime, ensuring the Kraken couldn’t pick up a pair of points on the Golden Knights. Jack Eichel won it for Vegas in the extra session.
The Capitals will be seeking their first ever road win in Seattle on Thursday. They fell 5-2 in their first visit to town in November of 2021, and dropped a 3-2 overtime decision there just over a year later.
