Caps Tangle with Flyers
Caps start short homestand with Saturday night Metro match vs. Philly
Back from a two-game trip to Florida, the Caps open up a two-game homestand on Saturday night when they host the Philadelphia Flyers in a big Metropolitan Division tilt. Saturday's game is the first of four meetings between the two longtime geographic rivals, who faced off eight times against one another during the pandemic-abbreviated 2021-22 season.
The Caps returned from Florida with just one of a possible four points. They played better than the results would indicate, aside from perhaps the first period of Thursday's game against the Panthers. Down 4-1 late in the second period of that game in Florida, the Caps scored twice late in the middle period and eventually pulled even on Connor McMichael's first NHL goal early in the third. But Washington wasn't able to get a lead in the game, and it never really had possession of the puck in the extra session, losing 5-4 in overtime.
Washington managed to earn that point against the Panthers despite playing without winger Anthony Mantha for the second half of the game. Two of the Caps' last three goals were scored with unusual line combinations that were cobbled into place because of Mantha's absence.
"It was a track meet out there tonight," said Caps coach Peter Laviolette afterwards. "I mean, it was flying up and down the ice, and so we needed all four lines. To be missing a forward probably wasn't great for us - [Alex Ovechkin] is playing on a different line, [Evgeny Kuznetsov] is playing on a different line, and [McMichael] is moving to left wing once in a while.
"We were just trying to keep pace with the speed that was going on out there. That was a quick one, and through it all - with the scoreboard not going our way and losing a player - I thought our guys just kept pushing and pushing. And so in the end, it's frustrating not to get another point. It's disappointing."
Mantha suffered a shoulder injury midway through the middle period and did not return. The Caps announced Friday that Mantha underwent surgery on the shoulder and will be out for an indefinite period of time. The loss of the big winger leaves Washington without three of its top six forwards; Nicklas Backstrom has been rehabbing a hip ailment and has yet to play or participate in a full practice with his teammates this season, and T.J. Oshie has missed the last three games after suffering a lower body injury in an Oct. 27 game against Detroit.
"It's a good challenge for our group," says Laviolette of Washington's latest injury. "Obviously you'll miss those guys; they're great players. Backy being out this long, and then to lose T.J., and [Nic Dowd] was out for a little bit - he's back, so that's good. But now [we lose] Mantha. We're taking a hit from [losing] that type of a player - the guys that play on the power play and play in that top six - and so it's not something that you like to see, but our guys are going to have to step up.
"I thought under the circumstances of three guys being out - when it was Dowd, Oshie and Backstrom - I thought we were still playing really good hockey. Even [Thursday] night when Mantha goes out, our guys continued to push for that game and I thought we played really well, but we didn't really get the results we wanted."
Mantha was placed on injured reserve, and the Caps recalled center Aliaksei Protas from AHL Hershey. Protas made his NHL debut in Tampa on Monday, and he was reassigned to the Bears when Dowd came off the injured reserve list ahead of the Florida game. By early Friday afternoon, Protas was back on the roster.
The Caps' Friday practice was an optional one with no indications of how the lineup might look on Saturday, when there will again be opportunity to claim some top six and/or power play minutes.
"It'll be the same [Saturday]," says Laviolette. "Our guys will have to step up, and it's an opportunity for somebody to take on some minutes or to jump on a power play and contribute. Nothing changes for us internally."
Although they've won only half of their first 10 games, the Caps have pulled at least a point in nine of the 10 contests. They allowed more than 30 shots against for just the second time this season on Thursday against the Panthers, and their average of 26.5 shots against per game is second best in the NHL.
"The way the guys have played - really from the start, but especially the last few games - has been really good," says Laviolette. "We'll continue to try to execute what we need to do on the ice."
All four of Washington's goals in the Florida game came at 5-on-5, ending a bit of a 5-on-5 dry spell for the Caps, whose only 5-on-5 goal in the previous three games was Brett Leason's first NHL goal on Monday, a shot that deflected in off the stick of Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman.
"We had two rush goals and one with a point shot from Johnny [Carlson] with good traffic, and then the last one with Mikey was traffic and second effort, too," said Caps center Lars Eller after the loss in Florida. "I liked the way we were able to get goals in different ways at 5-on-5. We have to be able to be good at 5-on-5 in the long run if we're going to have success, so there were some positives tonight."
The Caps will now try to ride those positives into two straight home games, starting with their first regular season look at the Flyers on Saturday. Philadelphia played six of its first nine games against Western Conference opponents, and it didn't face its first divisional foe until Thursday, when it took a 3-2 overtime loss from the Penguins in Pittsburgh.
Along with Washington, Philly is one of five Metropolitan Division teams ranking among the NHL's top nine in points percentage heading into Friday night's slate of NHL activity. Improved goaltending and defensive play have boosted the Flyers early on. Nine games into their season, the Flyers have allowed 2.56 goals per game, tied with Edmonton for fifth lowest in the League. Philadelphia finished last in the NHL in that category last season, permitting 3.52 goals per game.
