Caps Visit Ottawa
Caps face Sens for first time in nearly 21 months on Monday night
Washington takes its first journey north of the border in almost exactly 20 months when it visits the Senators in Ottawa on Monday night. The game is the Capitals' first road contest against a Canadian team since Feb. 27, 2020 when they came up empty in a 3-0 loss to the Jets in Winnipeg.
The Caps have not visited or faced Ottawa since Jan. 31, 2020 when they earned a 5-3 victory at Canadian Tire Centre. Washington is 15-1-1 in its last 17 games against the Senators, who look vastly different than they did the last time the Capitals faced them.
Five games into the 2021-22 season, the Caps have pulled points in all five games. They'll be coming into Monday's game in Ottawa on the heels of a 4-3 overtime loss to the Calgary Flames on Saturday afternoon at Capital One Arena. Washington has played only one bad period out of 15 in the young season, and it was the first period of Saturday's loss to Calgary when they dug a three-goal hole for themselves - their first scoreboard deficit of the season --- in the first period before roaring back to tie the game in the second. In the end, they had to settle for a point, but Washington has managed a good start to the season despite its special teams being substandard to date.
The Caps have limited opponents to just three goals at 5-on-5 thus far this season, the lowest raw number in the League to date. But even though they've got a 3-0-2 record and points in every game, they've not achieved any standings separation in the ultra-competitive Metropolitan Division.
"I looked at it [Saturday] night, I don't know why, I was bored," says Caps right wing Tom Wilson. "And it was just funny; it's already a logjam. I think what you realize is how consistent you're going to have to be over 82 games, even though it's so early.
"Last year, in a shortened season, it mattered a lot. But when teams are winning like they are, it puts an emphasis on getting points early in the season. I think it's always important to start well, so that's been good. I think the standings will obviously sort themselves out, but as a team you want to come out of training camp playing well and feeling good about your game. From there, consistency is the biggest thing in the NHL for anyone - for individuals and for teams. It's a long season and you've got to show up every night and keep collecting points."
Entering play on Sunday, the eight teams in each of the NHL's other three divisions have combined for 17 or more regulation losses to this early juncture of the season. But in the Metro, that number is just seven. Three teams - Washington, Carolina and Pittsburgh - have yet to suffer a regulation loss.
"To get eight out of 10 points, it's good for us," says Caps center Lars Eller of the team's start. "If we can sort of hold that pace, we'll be fine. But there are going to be weeks during the season where we're going to struggle to get points, we're going to struggle to find our game.
"I think we played really strong against the Rangers and the Avalanche, and the rest of the games have sort of been like, I think we've got a little more to give. But those two games were particularly good. When you can find ways to get points in the games when you're not playing your best, that's crucial and I think we've been doing a decent job of that. Our lowest [level] has got to be pretty high, and I'm happy with that so far. But we always strive to get wins, and we're not happy with just getting one point at home. So we're striving for more, but I think we've had a good start to the season."
Washington has won both of its division games to date - against the Rangers and the Devils - and those are the only regulation losses to date for both of those clubs.
"I actually looked at it Saturday, after the game," says Washington left wing Carl Hagelin. "You obviously pay attention mostly to the teams in your division, and us and Philly were the teams that lost [Saturday]. But you can see that our division is a tough division. All the teams are playing great this year.
"Normally, you're focusing on the process of us winning games, but when you love the game of hockey and you want to know what's going on, it's interesting to see who's hot and who's not. And you always know that divisional games are extra important. But in saying that, we've got a game coming up here that's really important as well."
Like the Capitals, the Senators suffered a home ice loss on Saturday, a 3-2 setback at the hands of the New York Rangers. But while Washington dug an early hole and had to mount a comeback to claim a point, Ottawa held a 2-0 lead early in the third period, only to lose in regulation when New York struck for three goals in a span of just 3:20 inside of the last six minutes of the third period.
Sens goalie Matt Murray was injured in permitting the first of those three goals to Chris Kreider. Anton Forsberg came on in relief and surrendered the tying goal on the first shot he faced, and then the game-winnerto Barclay Goodrow 65 seconds later.
Washington hasn't seen the Sens in a long time, but the Caps are still happy to be seeing some different sweaters than the same seven they saw eight times each last season.
"Yeah for sure," says Hagelin. "That's one of my favorite parts of being in the NHL. You get to go play in different cities and obviously in different countries as well. As for Ottawa, we don't know that much about them. They've probably got a ton of new guys since the last time we played them. That being said, they're in a rebuilding mode - or maybe they're just starting to get out of the rebuild - and they've got a lot of good young talent. Those are always tough games, especially early on in the year. They have young legs, and they'll be flying."
