Northern Sky – The Caps make their last trip over the border this season on Thursday in a one-game journey north to Toronto. Ahead of Wednesday’s trip to Canada, the Caps announced a trio of player transactions: defenseman Ethan Bear has entered the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program, and Washington recalled blueliner Vincent Iorio and winger Matthew Phillips from AHL Hershey.
Both Iorio and Phillips are expected to be healthy extras for tonight’s game, and Sonny Milano will miss a second straight game because of an upper body injury. Caps’ right wing Tom Wilson moves into the back half of his six-game suspension tonight; he is eligible to return to the lineup one week from tomorrow when Washington visits the Hurricanes in Carolina in the back half of the team’s penultimate set of back-to-back games this season.
On the Toronto side of the coin, Auston Matthews leads the NHL with 59 goals and he has a legitimate shot at reaching 70 on the season. But Matthews was ill this morning, and his presence in tonight’s Toronto lineup will be a game time decision.
For the better part of two months now, the Caps have won two of every three games, and continuing forward at that rate gives them an excellent chance at landing a playoff berth. But they’ve lost each of their first two meetings with Toronto this season, falling at home by 4-1 on Oct. 24 and 7-3 on March 20.
In Tuesday’s homestand finale against Detroit, the Caps earned a 4-3 overtime victory on the strength of Dylan Strome’s game-winner in overtime. Strome’s first goal of the game gave Washington a 3-2 lead early in the third period of that game. Tuesday’s victory was the Caps’ sixth in seven games, and they were able to show the Red Wings a truer version of their game; Detroit trounced the Caps 8-3 in Motown in the first meeting between the two teams almost exactly a month earlier.
Tonight in Toronto, the Caps have a similar opportunity. Last week’s loss to the Leafs was also essentially a schedule loss, and the Caps were still seeking to find their footing in an early season setback to the Leafs in late October. Although tonight’s game represents a chance to show their true colors to Toronto – and to bank a win against a team they might see down the road in the postseason – it’s not at the forefront of the Caps’ collective mind tonight.
“I think that can maybe be a part of the result feeling, if we play our game,” says Caps’ right wing T.J. Oshie. “More importantly than leaving a mark on a team – at the stage in everyone’s careers, with some guys who have won and some kids who are stepping into some large roles – the most important thing for us right now is consistency, I think. We have now – finally – set a consistent standard for ourselves. The most important thing we can do tonight is to not get away from that standard, and not think that things are going to be easy just because we’ve won some games.
“I’m more so looking forward to trying to get a good start tonight, and building on our foundation, and – no matter who the opponent is – just sticking with our game.”
Welcome Back – Caps’ coach Spencer Carbery spent the previous two seasons as an assistant coach here in Toronto, and tonight marks his first time back in town as an NHL head coach.
“Walking into the building was a little bit different,” says Carbery. “[I spent] two years here, so not a crazy long time, but still a lot of fond memories from here walking in, and even just being out on the ice – on the other side now, a little bit different – but I definitely will enjoy it tonight.”
Asked about how the harsh glare of the Toronto hockey media prepared him for his current gig in D.C., Carbery responded thusly:
“Immensely, I would say. And I think it’s awesome. I always appreciated being in this organization, the pressure that came along with it, the expectations from the fan base, from media; that drives me. It just means that you’re doing something important, and it meant a lot.
“Now carrying that through being a head coach now, my expectations for myself and our team are right there, the way they were years ago with Toronto. It helps a lot when you go through those situations, and sometimes the power play isn’t doing great, and there’s a little pressure applied, but that’s part of it. That’s why we do this, and I love that responsibility.”
In The Nets – Charlie Lindgren will be in goal for Washington tonight in Toronto. Beginning with a Feb. 10 start against the Bruins in Boston, Lindgren’s 18 appearances are tied for second in the NHL and his 17 starts are tied for third. He has forged a 12-5-1 record to go along with a 2.64 GAA and a .911 save pct. over that stretch, which has also included three of his five shutouts on the season. The three shutouts since Feb. 10 is tied for most in the NHL over that stretch.
In his five regulation losses since Feb. 10, Lindgren has allowed a total of 23 goals. In his other 13 appearances over that span, he has also allowed 23 goals. He will be making his 14th appearance in Washington’s last 15 games tonight, and he has had a game in which he has been dented for eight goals against and another in which he gave up seven – against the Leafs at home last week – during that span, but Lindgren doesn’t get hung up on the numbers. Giving up one goal in a loss is the same as giving up eight. Either way, it’s a game in which the team got zero of a possible two points.
“The way I look at it, it’s just two points down the drain,” says Lindgren. “And I can’t worry about the goals against and stuff like that. It’s two points; you’ve got to flush it down and you’ve got to be ready to go to work the next day.”
Clearly, Lindgren has the “ready to go to work the next day” down pat. He has not lost consecutive starts since before the All-Star break.
Lifetime against the Leafs, he is 2-4-0 with a 4.31 GAA and an .886 save pct. in seven appearances (six starts).
For the third time in as many games against the Leafs this season, we are expecting to see Joseph Woll between the pipes for Toronto. Although ex-Caps goalie Ilya Samsonov leads the Leafs with 19 victories, Woll’s qualitative numbers are better on the season. Since the All-Star break though, Woll is 2-4-0 with a 3.38 GAA and an .884 save pct. in six appearances. Over the same span, Samsonov is 11-3-1 with a 2.85 GAA and a .902 save pct. in 15 appearanes.
In his two previous career starts against Washington – both of which came earlier this season – Woll is 2-0-0 with a 2.01 GAA and a .932 save pct.
All Lined Up – Here’s how the Caps and the Maple Leafs might look on Thursday night in Toronto:
WASHINGTON
Forwards
8-Ovechkin, 24-McMichael, 77-Oshie
67-Pacioretty, 17-Strome, 63-Miroshnichenko
23-Sgarbossa, 29-Lapierre, 21-Protas
47-Malenstyn, 26-Dowd, 96-Aubé-Kubel
Defensemen
42-Fehervary, 74-Carlson
38-Sandin, 3-Jensen
27-Alexeyev, 57-van Riemsdyk
Goaltenders
79-Lindgren
35-Kuemper
Injured/Out
15-Milano (upper body)
19-Backstrom (lower body)
25-Bear (NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program)
43-Wilson (NHL suspension)
Scratches
2-Iorio
45-Phillips
TORONTO
Forwards
59-Bertuzzi, 34-Matthews, 11-Domi
74-McMann, 91-Tavares, 88-Nylander
23-Knies, 29-Holmberg, 89-Robertson
24-Dewar, 64-Kampf, 75-Reaves
Defensemen
22-McCabe, 37-Liljegren
78-Brodie, 46-Lyubushkin
2-Benoit, 25-Timmins
Goaltenders
60-Woll
31-Jones
Injured/Out
3-Klingberg (hip)
8-Muzzin (back)
16-Marner (ankle)
19-Jarnkrok (hand)
20-Edmundson (undisclosed)
30-Murray (hip)
55-Giordano (concussion)
Scratches
18-Gregor
35-Samsonov
