Golden Opportunity – The Caps continue their three-game season-opening homestand on Tuesday night against the Vegas Golden Knights, who are opening their first road trip of the season in the District.
Washington dropped a 5-3 decision to the Devils in its season opener on Saturday night. New Jersey was playing its fourth game of the season in that one, and the Golden Knights will also be playing their fourth game of the campaign here tonight. The Knights ran the table on their own three-game season-opening homestand before flying to DC on Monday. They’ll head south to Florida for the remainder of the trip after tonight’s tilt with the Caps.
“[They’re an] elite team,” says Caps’ coach Spencer Carbery of the Golden Knights. “It’s a tiny sample size, but if you go back years, [the top Vegas line] is right up there with some of the top lines in the NHL, with [Connor] McDavid’s line, [Nathan] MacKinnon’s line. Those guys, [Jack] Eichel and Mark Stone – and [Ivan] Barbashev has complemented them well – will be a handful.”
The Eichel line has accounted for six of the 15 goals Vegas has poured into opposing nets in just three games on the young season. But wait, there’s more.
“And then their [defense],” continues Carbery, “what I find with them and one of the main reasons that I see why they’re such a good defensive team, their [defensemen] are all long and big, and it’s very, very hard to get to the interior against the Vegas Golden Knights. They just control that space inside the defensive zone in front of their net and in the dangerous scoring area. And they make it really, really difficult A) to get in there, B) to get pucks in there, and C) to find a secondary chance inside there.
“They do a good job of getting in shot lanes, they do a great job of boxing out, and then, when a puck does get in there, they’re extremely hard with numbers, underneath sticks, and usually it’s a one and done situation. That’s a recipe for a lot of success, and that’s why there’s been a lot of talk about their goaltenders being so successful there – plug and play any goaltender that you want. And I’m not feeding into that, but that’s why they do such a good job defensively.”
That’s a lot to contend with for a Capitals team that scuffled to score for most of last season, but which has shown more offensive wherewithal through training camp and their first game of the regular season, a small and flawed sample size to be sure. So how do the Caps contend with the long Vegas defense?
“You have to be willing to go to that area,” begins Carbery, “and then you’re going to have to put your big boy pants on tonight, playing against Brayden McNabb and [Alex] Pietrangelo and [Noah] Hanifin. We’re going to have to be able to get inside there with numbers, and we’re going to have to win a couple of pucks. We’re going to have to be able to find a secondary chance, or maybe it’s a puck recovery and then we get it back.
“You’ve got to be really smart with the pucks that you throw in there; if you throw any half-hearted, back foot sifters in there, those usually are going the other way, and they’re going to transition those pucks. You have to be very deliberate with what you’re going to shoot at the net; it doesn’t mean it has to go in, it just can’t be something that they can knock down and transition the other way.
Mac Attack – Veteran defenseman Dylan McIlrath authored one of the feel-good stories of Caps’ training camp this fall, bucking the odds to land a berth on Washington’s opening night roster. And with Matt Roy out tonight after suffering a lower body injury early in the second period of Saturday’s game with the Devils, Big Mac draws into the lineup tonight against Vegas.
It’s the second time in as many seasons that he has seen his first NHL action against the Golden Knights. When Vegas visited the District last season on Nov. 14, 2023, McIlrath was one of three defensemen filling in on the Washington side. The Caps were without Joel Edmundson, Martin Fehervary, Trevor van Riemsdyk on that night 11 months ago, giving McIlrath, Alex Alexeyev and Lucas Johansen an opportunity to step in.
Things went well for Washington that night; Charlie Lindgren stopped all 35 shots he faced to record his first shutout as a Capital in a 3-0 victory. McIlrath tangled with Vegas winger Keegan Kolesar in the first period, after the latter unwisely took exception to the former’s clean hit on a Golden Knights teammate.
“When I was with Detroit, I played against them too,” recalls McIlrath. “I seem to match up well against them; I think they’re a big, heavy bottom six team. Just knowing my role, being a solid defender and clearing the net front helps my cause.”
Drafted 10th overall by the New York Rangers in the 2010 NHL Draft, McIlrath is set to suit up in his ninth NHL season tonight. But the 32-year-old Winnipeg native is still a few games shy of a single full season’s worth of work in the NHL; he has logged 75 games in those eight seasons with New York, Florida, Detroit and Washington. And while McIlrath may not have racked up as many NHL games as he would have hoped to this point in his career, he has had a strong pro career to this point. McIlrath has played on three Calder Cup championship teams and he has captained the AHL Hershey Bears to consecutive Cup crowns.
He topped that off by making the Washington roster this fall. Since signing with the Caps’ organization in July of 2021, McIlrath’s game has grown and he has made himself into a more well rounded defenseman. When he joined the Caps, McIlrath hadn’t played in the NHL since 2019-20 and he hadn’t registered a point in the League since 2016-17. McIlrath has since picked up a pair of assists in nine regular season games with Washington, and he suited up in all four Stanley Cup playoff games for the Caps this last spring.
“I don’t know if I could pinpoint what the moment would be,” says McIlrath of his strides the last three seasons. “But obviously I’m really comfortable here, knowing the staff, the players, the coaching staff having some trust in me. All those things just help me to play my game. And I think I’ve just really figured out who I am as a player, and I’ve tried to stick to that; I’m not playing too safe, but I’m also not trying to be something that I’m not.
“I’ve really tried to hone my game, and obviously down in Hershey, I’ve had to play a lot of minutes and be a reliable guy. And that has helped me. When I come up [to the NHL], I’ve just tried to play the same way.”
McIlrath has played in 618 regular season AHL games and 91 more Calder Cup playoff games. In the American League, he is a leader and a guy who is in the lineup most nights, munching lots of minutes.
In the NHL, McIlrath is a depth defenseman who must wait for his opportunities, and then make sure he is ready and able to seize those chances when they roll around.
“It’s a balancing act for sure,” says McIlrath. “I could have gone 15 games without getting a game; I just so happen to be in the lineup for game two. Being mentally sharp is the key. You can get stale in the fact that you’re just practicing every day, and you’re not really game ready mentally. That’s going to be the biggest adjustment. Being the guy in Hershey, I never had to think about that.
“Mistakes will happen. I’m human; I’m going to make mistakes. I know I’m going to be limited in ice time, and I’m giving myself some grace just knowing that, yes, I’ve got to play my game and make an impact, but mistakes will happen. Just having that calming mindset coming in will hopefully play to my benefit.”
In The Nets – Logan Thompson makes his first start as a member of the Capitals tonight, and he will be facing his only former NHL employer, the Golden Knights. Just over 100 days ago, Thompson was a member of the Golden Knights. He was traded to Washington on June 29, during the second day of the 2024 NHL Draft in Vegas.
Thompson was happy to be coming to the Caps; they’re the team that signed him to his first pro contract in May of 2019. After a year at ECHL South Carolina, Thompson signed with Vegas as a free agent. The 27-year-old Calgary native spent the last four seasons in the Vegas organization, where he rolled up a 56-32-11 reord and was a member of the Knights’ 2023 Stanley Cup championship team.
“You’re always going to be a little extra motivated to play your former team,” acknowledges Thompson. “But I’m just excited to get a first game here in a Caps’ jersey, and to hopefully help get the guys two points [tonight].”
Having spent the last four seasons practicing with and against many of these Golden Knights, Thompson has a bit of a book on them, and they also likely believe they have a window into how to solve the 6-foot-4, 207-pound Thompson.
“Yeah, but practice is one thing,” he says. “But they’re a good team; they’re going to make plays. Obviously, they’ve started off the year really strong, so we’ve got to be prepared for that. They’re a contender every year, and they’re going to come out hard. We’ve just got to play our game and focus on our details.”
After he faces Vegas tonight, Montreal and Tampa Bay will be the only NHL clubs Thompson has yet to face.
“I’m excited,” he says. “Like I said, I think I still have a lot more to prove. This is just game one here for me as a Capital, and I’m hoping for many more years to be a Capital.”
For Vegas, Adin Hill is the likely starter on Tuesday in the District. Drafted by Arizona in 2015, Hill also did time in the Sharks’ organization before landing in Sin City in 2022-23, just in time to help Vegas win the Stanley Cup.
Lifetime against Washington, Hill is 0-2-0 with a 3.08 GAA and an .875 save pct. in two appearances, both starts.
All Lined Up – Here’s how we expect the Capitals and Golden Knights to line up on Tuesday night in DC:
WASHINGTON
Forwards
21-Protas, 17-Strome, 8-Ovechkin
24-McMichael, 80-Dubois, 43-Wilson
88-Mangiapane, 29-Lapierre, 13-Vrana
22-Duhaime, 26-Dowd, 16-Raddysh
Defensemen
6-Chychrun, 74-Carlson
42-Fehervary, 52-McIlrath
38-Sandin, 57-van Riemsdyk
Goaltenders
48-Thompson
79-Lindgren
Extras
15-Milano
27-Alexeyev
Out/Injured
3-Roy (lower body)
19-Backstrom (hip)
77-Oshie (back)
VEGAS
Forwards
49-Barbashev, 9-Eichel, 61-Stone
16-Dorofeyev, 48-Hertl, 26-Holtz
21-Howden, 10-Roy, 95-Olofsson
70-Pearson, 22-Schwindt, 55-Kolesar
Defensemen
27-Theodore, 7-Pietrangelo
15-Hanifin, 14-Hague
3-McNabb, 2-Whitecloud
Goaltenders
33-Hill
35-Samsonov
Extras
6-Korczak
17-Hutton
19-Brisson
Out/Injured
71-Karlsson (undisclosed)
90-Lehner (hip)
