Caps Visit the Island
Caps take on Islanders for first time this season on Monday in New York
Two nights after they finished their four-game season's series with the Philadelphia Flyers, the Capitals will face another Metro Division foe for the first time in 2022-23. The Caps are on Long Island on Monday night, facing the New York Islanders in the first of four meetings between the two division rivals. The game is the front end of a set of back-to-backs for the Capitals, who are in the midst of a busy stretch in which they'll play five games in eight nights, traveling for each of the last four of them.
Washington returns home after Monday's game; it will host Minnesota on Tuesday before embarking upon a weeklong three-game journey out west.
For the first time in two months, the Caps come into Monday's game on the heels of consecutive regulation losses. Washington dropped both ends of a home-and-home set of games with the Philadelphia Flyers, falling 5-3 on Wednesday in Philly and then dropping a 3-1 decision to the Flyers in D.C. on Saturday night.
After underperforming for the first quarter of the season, the Capitals turned on the jets and posted an scorching 15-3-3 mark leading up to the midpoint of the campaign. They've lost three of four - all in regulation - since, and the Caps will be seeking to avoid going three straight games without a point for the first time this season when they face the Isles.
Caps coach Peter Laviolette stated on Saturday morning that he wanted to see the Capitals on the attack more, and that he wanted to see them dictating the style and pace of play. And following a pair of successive subpar outings, the Caps did exactly that on Saturday in the rematch against the Flyers. But for the second time in as many games, the Caps fell behind on a power-play goal in their first shorthanded assignment of the contest. And for the second time in as many games, they were never able to catch up.
Washington dominated possession and territory, but Flyers goalie Carter Hart stopped 39 of 40 shots he faced, his teammates blocked another 25 shots and the Caps missed the net on 22 shot attempts. Despite teeing up 87 shot tries to just 42 for the Flyers, the Caps came out on the short end of a 3-1 final score.
With the game even at 1-1 early in the second, the Caps committed a couple of mistakes that cost them a couple of goals against on consecutive shifts just 49 seconds apart. Hart locked the door the rest of the way, stopping all 33 shots he faced in the game's final 40 minutes.
"We made a couple of big defensive mistakes," says Laviolette. "Other than that, I thought we were pretty good. But they've got some skilled players over there, and if you make those mistakes, they end up in the back of your net.
"It just seemed like we were chasing it again. They scored right off the power play real quick, we chased the game, we're playing pretty good, and then we have a blip for about three minutes where they go 'bang bang' with a couple of goals. Now we're chasing it again, and we're pushing and pressing. We need to do a better job of capitalizing on some of those chances."
Limited to fewer than 30 shots on net in each of their previous two games - the first time in more than a month - they had suffered that fate -- the Caps were dominant in the attack zone on Saturday, right up to the point of finishing.
"In the offensive zone, when we get it there, obviously those greasy ones are nice," says Caps center Nicklas Backstrom. "The rebounds, we can work a little harder on those. But I feel like we're getting to the offensive zone, but when we're there, that's when you've got to make the next play, and we haven't been doing that."
Caps captain Alex Ovechkin scored the team's lone goal of the game on Saturday, notching his 30th goal of the season. With his 17th season with 30 or more goals, Ovechkin ties ex-Caps great Mike Gartner for the most 30-goal seasons in League history.
In the history of the NHL, Ovechkin's 30-goal season in 2022-23 is the 16th by a player aged 37 or older, achieved by 11 different players. Johnny Bucyk and Gordie Howe each had three such seasons while Brett Hull had two of them. With 44 goals at the age of 40 in 1968-69, Howe holds the League record for most goals in a season by a player aged 37 or older.
On Monday in New York, the Caps will try their heat up their hands against the League's fifth-stingiest team defensively. The Islanders have permitted an average of 2.66 goals per game this season.
New York eked out a 2-1 won over the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night at UBS Arena, ending a four-game slide (0-3-1) in the process. Monday's game is the fourth of a five-game homestand for the Islanders, who are 1-1-1 on the homestand to date. The Isles close out the homestand - their longest of the season - on Wednesday when Boston comes in for a visit.
The Islanders trail the Caps by three points in the Eastern Conference standings, and New York holds a game in hand on Washington as the teams take the ice on Monday night.
