March 13 vs. Edmonton Oilers at Rogers Place
Time: 10:00 p.m.
TV: TNT
Radio: 106.7 The Fan, Capitals Radio 24/7
Washington Capitals (30-24-9)
Edmonton Oilers (39-21-3)
The Caps’ five-game western trip continues on Wednesday night in Edmonton when the Caps take on the Oilers at Rogers Place. Washington’s nine-day journey got off to an inauspicious start on Monday night in Winnipeg, where the Jets blanked the Caps by a 3-0 count.
Even with Monday’s setback, the Caps are 7-2-2 in their last 11 games. For them, it’s important to get their game back in shape for what promises to be another tough tilt against another difficult Western Conference foe with designs on reaching the Stanley Cup Final this spring.
In Monday’s game against the Jets, the Caps were not the team that had rolled up such a strong record over the course of their previous 10 games. They weren’t connected as a five-man unit, their execution was not crisp, they were rarely able to create and generate strong offensive looks from prime areas of the ice, and they were often under siege in their own end, dealing with a swarm of forechecking Jets.
Washington’s lack of execution led to a number of icings, and that issue was then compounded by their woes on the face-off dot, where they won only 24 of the game’s 66 draws (36 percent).
“[We had] some extended shifts where guys just chuck it,” said Caps’ coach Spencer Carbery in the aftermath of Monday’s loss. “They’re trying essentially to just not get scored on. When you get swarmed like that, and you feel like that – and I’m sure the guys will say it – you just panic. You start to panic, because when they have that much pressure, and they’re on you and they’re skating, and they’re quick to everything, it’s tough for us in those situations.”
Tuesday was a new day for the Caps, a day to move on from Winnipeg and prepare for Wednesday’s match with the Oilers with a midday practice at Rogers Place. The Caps got T.J. Oshie back in their lineup for Monday’s game with the Jets, and they’re hopeful that either or both of ailing center Nic Dowd (upper body) and injured defenseman Martin Fehervary might be cleared to return for Wednesday’s game in Edmonton.
“They’re continuing to trend in the right direction, so we’ll see [Wednesday],” says Carbery.
Tom Wilson also missed Monday’s game with an upper body injury; he practiced on Tuesday and was feeling better, but his status for Wednesday should be clearer on the morning of the game.
As they try to chase their way into the playoff picture with only 19 games remaining in the season, it’s important for the Caps to avoid losing streaks of any length.
“I think the positive thing about [Monday] night was we knew how we wanted to play,” says Caps’ center Connor McMichael after Tuesday’s practice session. “It was uncharacteristic of how we’ve been playing lately. I feel like ever since the All-Star break, we’ve had an identity, and we’ve been really good at forechecking pucks, and [Monday] we got away from that, and we almost played right into their hands.
“I think for the most part, it’s going to be a one-off, and I think we all know that. We went over it this morning, and we’re turning the page.”
That’s certainly the right mindset in this situation. It’s crucial for the Caps to avoid losing streaks of any length, and it’s imperative they keep the points coming, and that they make sure Monday’s loss was just a blip on the radar screen.
“For this group – and we’ve seen it all year – obviously nights like [Monday] night aren’t characteristic for us,” says Caps’ winger Beck Malenstyn. “We look at the video, and you look internally, and you realize there’s a lot of things you probably wish you could have done different. I think we’ve taken that challenge on all year, and have really been able to put our best foot forward coming out of these situations.
“And obviously, for us, it’s not [have a] bad game, regroup, have another one, regroup. We really do want to start putting those stretches of wins together, and it starts with [Wednesday] night. It’s going to be a great hockey team that we’re playing, and for us, we go back and we look through what we probably wanted to change [Monday] night in Winnipeg. And there’s a lot of things we could have done better. It was an uncharacteristic game from our group, and I definitely think we’re going to get our best effort. And if we continue to do that, and we build off that, I think we can put a good stretch together.”
On Black Friday in the District, the Oilers blanked the Caps by a 5-0 count, spurring an eight-game winning streak that lifted them from the doldrums of a 5-12-1 start to the season. Soon after that eight-game winning run ended, they reeled off 16 victories in a row, a streak that was halted on Feb. 6 in Vegas, one game shy of the NHL mark established by the Pittsburgh Penguins more than three decades ago.
Like the Jets, Edmonton is a team with realistic designs on reaching the Stanley Cup Final this spring. For the Oilers, Wednesday’s game is the first game of a four-game homestand. It comes on the heels of a 2-1-1 road trip for the Oilers, who ended the trip on a high note, blanking the Pens in Pittsburgh by a 4-0 count on Sunday.
