Nov. 19 vs. Edmonton Oilers at Capital One Arena
Time: 7:00 p.m.
TV: MNMT
Radio: 106.7 THE FAN/Caps Radio Network
Edmonton Oilers (9-8-4)
Washington Capitals (9-8-2)
Two nights after an uplifting 2-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings, the Caps close out a three-game homestand on Wednesday night against the Edmonton Oilers. Washington is seeking its first set of consecutive victories in just under four weeks, since it defeated Seattle and Columbus, respectively on Oct. 21 and 24.
You can’t win two until you win one, and the Caps checked that first box on Monday night at home when they dethroned the Kings, who were seeking to extend their road point streak to a franchise record 11 straight games. Los Angeles came into Monday’s game with a perfect 4-0-0 mark on its six-game road trip, and with an 8-0-2 record in its previous 10 road tilts this season.
Making his first start in 11 days, Charlie Lindgren made 30 saves to earn his 60th win as a Capital, and the 18 skaters in front of him combined to block 21 shots, matching a single-game team high for the season. Staked to an early 1-0 lead, Lindgren made a key save early on Alexis Laferriere’s shorthanded breakaway, and he stopped every shot he saw at 5-on-5; only Anze Kopitar’s one-timer on a Los Angeles power play got behind him.
“It’s just staying sharp,” says Lindgren of his approach between starts. “Obviously, practice is a lot different than games; it’s hard to mimic game-like scenarios, but I think [goaltending coach] Scotty [Murray] does a really good job and our coaching staff does a good job. Our practices are really intense, and I’m just working hard when I get the chance to go on the ice and continuing to sharpen the sword.”
Washington has scored first in 12 of its 19 games this season; only Pittsburgh and Chicago (13 each) have done so more often to this point of the campaign. But Lindgren has been the benefactor of the Caps scoring the game’s first goal in only three of his six starts, and he is 2-0-1 in those starts, all three of which were one-goal decisions.
“It helped to get off to a good start,” says Lindgren. “I feel like my first few games probably haven’t been that way; we’ve been digging ourselves a hole, 1-0, 2-0, 3-0. It felt good to get out to a lead tonight, and credit to the guys in front of me for doing that.”
“For Chucky to step in, that’s a really tough team to play against,” says Caps center Nic Dowd, a former King. “They do all the little things; they get to the net and it’s tough for him to see pucks. He played really, really well and made some big saves and kept us in that game when we weren’t really ‘foot on the gas.’
“But for all of us, that’s a tough team to play, man, and they’ve got a great record on the road. And again, we have stuff we’ve got to work on. We played really well in the first, the second got a little bit away from us, but good teams find a way. We’re going to continue to learn throughout the season how to finish those games.”
Monday’s game marked the eighth time this season the Caps have yielded one or fewer goals against in a game, tops in the NHL. Washington has yielded an average of 2.47 goals against per game, tied for third in the League. In their 19 games to date, the Caps have surrendered just 24 goals at 5-on-5, fewest in the NHL. The Caps are 8-1-1 in games in which they outscore the opposition at 5-on-5 this season.
Although the Caps are 3-6-2 since their last set of consecutive victories last month, they’re also 2-1-1 in their last four games, and they’ve managed to be competitive and have a chance to win all but one of their 19 games to date this season. Aside from a 7-1 loss to Ottawa on Oct. 25 in DC, the Caps have been even or within a goal of their opponent in each of their other nine losses on the season.
Having earned a win over the Pacific Division leading Kings, the Caps now turn their attentions to the Oilers, who have reached the Stanley Cup Final in each of the last two seasons.
“You can feel our group is right there,” says Carbery. “So you hope that you can just continue to build on the positive things, and hopefully now we can maybe take a little bit of a deep breath and okay, just let's stack this. Let's see if we can replicate a lot of the things that we did in the first half of the game. And so, that's the goal.
“I think that the belief in our group – I'll just take myself out of it, and the coaches out of it –there's a lot of belief. Our guys believe that we can be a good team in this league, even wherever we're sitting in the standings and whatever that looks like. But there's belief, and then there's confidence by getting results. And those are two different things, right? I think now there’s a little bit more confidence. And 2-1-1 in our last four, take that and try to build off it.”
Washington did have a four-game winning streak early in the season. As for the Oilers, coming off two consecutive seasons in which they played in the last game possible but have no rings or parades to show for it, they’ve started sluggishly and have yet to win as many as three games in a row.
Wednesday’s game marks the fifth stop on a seven-game road trip for the Oilers, who are 2-2-0 on the journey to date. Each of Edmonton’s last four victories was achieved in overtime; the Oilers’ last regulation win was a 6-3 home ice victory over Utah on Oct. 28.
Most recently, the Oilers absorbed a 5-1 setback from the Sabres in Buffalo on Monday night. Buffalo scored four unanswered goals to snap a 1-1 tie midway through the second period of that game.
Edmonton has yielded 53 goals at 5-on-5 in its 21 games this season, tied with Toronto for most in the NHL. The Leafs, however, have played two fewer games.
