Closer To You – The Caps come into Saturday night’s game with Columbus as the seventh-place team in the NHL’s Metropolitan Division, and Washington can move past the Blue Jackets and into sixth place with a regulation win here tonight. The Metro is the NHL’s tightest division from top to bottom, and a game after their three-game winning streak was ended, the Caps are seeking to start another. It’s important to keep a steady flow of standings points coming in so as not to fall too far off the pace early in the season.
Coming into Saturday’s contest, the Caps also hold at least a game in hand on five of the six teams ahead of them in the Metro.
Be A Darling And Pass The Jam – Washington has managed a 4-4-1 mark through nine games, wringing maximum value out of the 17 goals the team has managed to score in those nine contests. Coming off a 3-0 shutout loss in a game in which they outplayed the New York Islanders for significant swaths of time, the Capitals are now focused on finding ways to light the lamp with more frequency going forward.
Caps’ coach Spencer Carbery and his staff are emphasizing good practice habits, hoping they’ll carry over into games as the team strives to generate offense on a more consistent basis. Carbery pointed out the need for crisper passing and playmaking, and for generating more traffic against NHL-caliber goaltenders.
“I’ve challenged our guys, and it starts here in practice for me,” says Carbery. “When we have opportunities to attack, it should be bang, bang, bang. And for whatever reason, it just looks a little sloppy; rolling pucks, not in guys’ wheelhouses, having to double clutch, off a guy’s skates. And that’s tricky, because there’s a confidence part to that.
“But what we’re trying to do and what this coaching staff is trying to do is instill good practice habits, make sure that we’re doing it out here first, and then that’ll translate to the game. All of our guys are capable – more than capable – and have proved it in the past. We just need to get way more polished with our puck movement, our passing. It’s just not executing at a very high level, which this team in the past, has been as good as anybody in the National Hockey League at it. And we need that right now, desperately.”
Two veteran Capitals also identified better passing and playmaking as an element the Caps need to improve upon.
“I think for sure we’ve created a lot of good looks, a lot of real good looks,” says Caps’ defenseman John Carlson. “But you get buoyed – in a good way – by great plays, and fantastic [plays] and tap ins, and times where literally the goalie is watching the film the next day and he goes, ‘I have no chance,’ whether that’s because of a screen, whether that’s because of a double slot line – whatever it is. When you look at film, there’s a lot of times where the goalie is like, ‘I was moving quick, and they made a really nice play.’
“And I think that’s the thing that’s missing, and whenever you score, the confidence goes up. I think a lot of guys feel a little snake bitten, and that doesn’t help either when we’re not creating those extreme high percentage plays, and shots, and chances. With that said, I think we’re doing a fantastic job of getting good chances, and a lot of them. Guys are working, and you see that we’ve played man-on-man teams so far, we’ve played more zone [defense] teams, and we’ve found ways to break them down differently. And even within that structure, Minnesota plays their [defense] a lot different, and I thought we played them well, too, and got a lot of chances. The Islanders, they’re a really good defensive team and we don’t score, so I guess they did something right.”
In the immediate aftermath of the loss to the Islanders, Caps’ center Evgeny Kuznetsov also noted the need for a sharper and more polished passing game.
“I think there is more room to be creative and to finish those chances that we have,” says Kuznetsov. “And I feel like the last pass has to be better and everything has to be better. But sometimes that’s the game. The game gives you opportunities until you feel like you’re controlling everything, but they lead all the way, and they defend well.”
The Three Of Me – With defenseman Joel Edmundson on injured reserve since late September, the Caps have deployed three different defenders on the left side of their third blueline pairing in his absence. Alex Alexeyev, Hardy Häman Aktell and Lucas Johansen have all seen duty from that lineup slot, with Alexeyev getting four games, Häman Aktell getting three, and Johansen playing in two to this point of the season.
Tonight, Alexeyev draws back into the Washington lineup for the first time since Oct. 27 against Minnesota, the last of a three-game run for him.
“We would like to have some consistency there, especially since we’ve had [Nick Jensen] on the right side there,” says Carbery. “I think that would help him have some consistency there. And then also, one of those guys to seize the opportunity and really take off with it. I think there’s been good moments for all three of them – good performances, good games – but strung together consistently, we haven’t got that quite yet.
“Häman Aktell has had some strong games, Al has had some strong games. And it’s not about someone really jumping off the page; it’s about being reliable, being smart, being good with defending, the breakout touches and all that stuff. And absolutely we would like someone to elevate themselves and really grab a hold of it.”
Alexeyev played in each of Washington’s last 20 games of 2022-23, and he exceeded 20 minutes in ice time in six of those contests. After spending the summer packing more muscle onto his 6-foot-4, 212-pound frame, Alexeyev again finds himself scrapping for playing time.
“There is no question about it, everything has changed in this organization,” says Alexeyev. “Some new coaches here, and I’m excited to work with them. But I’ve just got to keep improving myself out on the ice, show what I can do, and play my best.”
The Caps have liked Alexeyev’s game in his own end for the most part. He needs to improve his puck decisions in each of the three zones in the ice if he is to be the one to separate himself from the other two rearguards.
“I would say two things,” says Carbery, when asked what areas Alexeyev needs to improve upon. “His puck decisions being as consistent as possible, and he has to toe that line of making the odd play, finding the middle of the offensive blueline, trying to make a play when it’s there, and not just resetting it behind the net, and making sure those aren’t going the other way.
“And that’s the balance. It’s really tough for a young defenseman to make a play when it’s there, and to be safe when it’s not there. And sometimes it takes experience in games to sort through that; the old adage is it takes a pro defenseman 200 games before they’re truly comfortable in the pro game.
“That’s probably number one. And then the defending part, I thought he’s done a good job of closing in the defensive zone and defending the rush. I think that, for the most part, has been really good from Al. So I would say those puck decisions. I can go back through a couple in my head that I know went haywire, and those are the ones that we’re trying to weed out.”
Tonight, Alexeyev gets back in the lineup and has the next opportunity to stack some performances together.
“Talking to the coaches, that’s exactly what they said,” says Alexeyev. “Play your game, do your best to have consistency from shift to shift, and that’s how I will get their trust and be able to keep playing and playing.”
It has been heartening to see all three young blueliners showing themselves well at times; it’s a long season and depth is a critical element of every NHL organization.
“All three of us love to compete,” says Alexeyev. “I think it’s a great opportunity for all of us to show what we are capable of doing.”
In The Nets – For the first time since opening night – Oct. 13 – Charlie Lindgren gets the start for Washington on Saturday against the Blue Jackets. Lindgren started on short notice that night when Darcy Kuemper’s wife gave birth to the couple’s first child the night before. Days after that start, Lindgren was sidelined with an upper body injury sustained in practice.
Lindgren is back in the crease tonight, making his fifth career start against Columbus. Lifetime, he is 1-1-2 with a 4.18 GAA and an .862 save pct. against the Blue Jackets.
For Columbus, we’re expecting to see Elvis Merzlikins in net tonight. Merzlikins will be getting his eighth starting assignment in 11 games for the Jackets this season; he’ll be seeking his fourth victory of 2023-24.
Lifetime against the Capitals, Merzlikins is 1-2-0 in four appearances (three starts), with a 3.88 GAA and an .875 save pct.
All Lined Up – Here is how we believe the Capitals and Blue Jackets might look when they take the ice in the District on Saturday night:
WASHINGTON
Forwards
8-Ovechkin, 17-Strome, 43-Wilson
15-Milano, 92-Kuznetsov, 77-Oshie
39-Mantha 24-McMichael, 21-Protas
47-Malenstyn, 29-Lapierre, 45-Phillips
Defensemen
42-Fehervary, 74-Carlson
38-Sandin, 57-van Riemsdyk
27-Alexeyev, 3-Jensen
Goaltenders
79-Lindgren
35-Kuemper
Injured
6-Edmundson (hand)
19-Backstrom (upper body)
26-Dowd (upper body)
67-Pacioretty (torn Achilles’ tendon)
Scratches
4-Häman Aktell
46-Johansen
COLUMBUS
Forwards
13-Gaudreau, 38-Jenner, 96-Roslovic
91-Johnson, 11-Fantilli, 52-Bemstrom
10-Voronkov, 4-Sillinger, 86-Marchenko
42-Texier, 7-Kuraly, 17-Danforth
Defensemen
8-Werenski, 78-Severson
9-Provorov, 55-Jiricek
22-Bean, 44-Gudbranson
Goaltenders
90-Merzlikins
30-Martin
Injured
29-Laine (head)
40-Tarasov (knee)
Scratches
2-Peeke
24-Olivier
27-Boqvist
