Dec. 23 vs. Boston Bruins at TD Garden
Time: 7:00 p.m.
TV: MNMT
Radio: 106.7 THE FAN, Caps Radio 24/7
Washington Capitals (23-8-2)
Boston Bruins (18-13-4)
The Caps make one last trip to play one last game ahead of the NHL’s annual holiday break. Washington will be in Boston to face the Bruins for the first of three meetings this season on Monday night at TD Garden.
Monday’s game in Boston concludes the Caps’ eighth set of back-to-back games in precisely nine weeks; Washington prevailed by a 3-1 count over the visiting Los Angeles Kings on Sunday afternoon in DC in the front end of this set.
For the second time in as many games, Aliaksei Protas scored the game’s first goal and Jakub Vrana netted the game-winner as the Caps swept a two-game homestand by identical 3-1 scores over Carolina and Los Angeles, respectively. Facing his former team for the first time since they traded him to Washington six months ago, P-L Dubois was also a standout, supplying the primary helper for each of the aforementioned goals while also helping the Caps to stymie the Kings at 5-on-5.
“It feels good, it feels a little extra special,” said a smiling Dubois as he basked in the aftermath of Sunday’s victory. “We have a midnight rule, and another big game [Monday] before the break. So as good as this feels, it’s on to the next one.”
With his two assists on Sunday, Dubois now has 20 on the season. He is the ninth-fastest Capital to reach 20 assists, reaching that plateau in 33 games. Randy Burridge holds the club record, with 20 apples in as many games in 1991-92. Burridge finished with a single-season career best 44 that season.
In addition to scoring the only 5-on-5 goal in Sunday’s game, Protas added a late empty-net goal for the second multi-game goal of his NHL career, both of them coming this month. Protas has 14 goals in 33 games this season, including a team-leading six goals in just nine December games. With 3.20 points per 60 minutes at 5-on-5 this season, Protas ranks third in the NHL behind only Tampa Bay’s Brandon Hagel (3.37) and Vegas’ Ivan Barbashev (3.31)
Even more astonishing, Protas’ 14 goals this season are one more than he managed to score in 169 games over his first three NHL seasons.
“And all 5-on-5 or shorthanded; he doesn’t touch the power play at all, and he’s forcing our hand to make sure that he gets out there at some point, which he will,” points out Caps coach Spencer Carbery. “I just feel like he is doing such a good job at 5-on-5, and on the penalty kill, and on so many different areas inside.”
It’s not easy to sweep back-to-back games in the NHL, but the Caps have managed the feat in four of their previous seven sets of back-to-backs this season, and they’ve also managed to win three games in four nights twice this season, which they will also be seeking to do on Monday in Boston.
In Sunday’s victory over Los Angeles, the Caps completely shut the Kings down at 5-on-5. Each team had one power play in the game – each of those power plays came as the result of a delay of game, puck over glass infraction – and each team scored on its lone man advantage opportunity of the contest.
The first two periods were virtually dead even at even strength, but Los Angeles – which was finishing up a seven-game, 15-day road trip – emptied the tank in the third and put on a significant push. The Caps and goaltender Logan Thompson were more than up to the task; Thompson recorded 10 of his 25 saves in the final frame to notch his 13th win of the season, putting him more than halfway to matching his career high of 25 wins, established last season.
With Vegas in 2023-24, Thompson earned his 13th victory on Jan. 11 of this year, in the Golden Knights’ 42nd game of the season. His 13th win of ’24-25 came in the Caps’ 33rd game of the campaign.
“They were letting me see a lot of pucks,” says Thompson, of his teammates. “They were also good with some timely blocks. But credit to the guys. I think we kept them to the outside for most of the night and made my job easy.”
Along with each of the other teams in the NHL’s Original 32, Washington will enjoy a three-day respite from the rinks after Monday’s game; no team activity is permitted from Dec. 24-26. Following the game in Boston, the Caps will reconvene next on Friday morning at MedStar Capitals Iceplex for a practice before hitting the road again for yet another set of back-to-backs – their League-leading ninth set of them between opening night at New Year’s Day – in Toronto and Detroit, on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
Boston is 7-2-1 in its last 10 games and is 10-4-1 since interim coach – and ex-Caps winger – Joe Sacco took over behind the bench following the early season dismissal of Jim Montgomery. The B’s have the fifth-best record in the League since Sacco took over on Nov. 19; he coached his first game on Nov. 21.
Since Sacco took over the reins, Boston is scoring 2.87 goals per game to rank 20th over that span. The B’s have yielded just 2.60 goals per game under Sacco, 10th best. The Bruins are the League’s second stingiest team at allowing shots on goal over the last month, with an average of 24.2 per game; only New Jersey (22.1) is better.
