Start Me Up – After scoring first in each game and sweeping a three-game homestand here earlier this month, the Caps took to the road last week, visiting Winnipeg and Minnesota, respectively. They yielded the game’s first goal in each of those games and subsequently chased and lost both, falling 3-2 in overtime to the Jets on Tuesday and 4-2 to the Wild on Thursday.
As they return home to host the Sabres, the Caps are looking to restore those strong starts against a Buffalo club that absorbed a 7-4 setback in Philadelphia on Saturday afternoon, halting its own modest three-game winning streak.
The Caps have a plus-17 goal differential in the first period this season, but it’s just plus-1 (21-20) across a 17-game span since last month’s Four Nations pause.
“I think for a bunch of different reasons, the start is going to be critical tonight for our team,” says Caps coach Spencer Carbery. “We've had issues in these scenarios if you remember back; Utah, Seattle [are both] line rush teams – fast, quick through the neutral zone, quick in transition – and both those games we were playing teams with back to backs.
“So they come in, and in both those games they caught us off guard significantly in the first period, so that that'll be a big indicator of what tonight looks like, will be the first period and our start, and our guys will know the necessary things that we need to do to combat Buffalo’s skill and speed and transition attack, which has given us problems over the last couple years.”
Buffalo has scored four or more goals in six of its last eight games against Washington, and it has scored 19 goals in its last four games (3-1-0).
Heart Of Gold – Sunday’s game against Buffalo marks the triumphant and highly anticipated return to the television broadcast booth for No. 18, Craig Laughlin, whose colorful patter and endless hockey insight have brightened Caps telecasts for three decades now.
About seven weeks ago, the man known to all as “Locker” took a leave of absence to undergo major heart surgery. Today, he returns to the broadcast booth alongside longtime partner Joe Beninati, and just in time, as the Alex Ovechkin goals chase heats up and the Caps’ joyous 50th anniversary season draws to a close, with the hope and promise of a playoff run just ahead on the horizon.
Caps fans have been extremely fortunate to have the formidable duo of Beninati and Laughlin to describe the triumphs and travails of their team for so long, and everyone is thrilled to have their inimitable analyst back in the broadcast booth this afternoon. But let’s also take the time to hand out kudos to Alan May, who filled in nicely for his good buddy while Locker was on the mend.
Welcome back, Locker, we’ve missed you!
People Have The Power – Washington’s power play drought has now stretched to 10 straight games, matching the fourth-longest dry spell of its kind in franchise history. The Caps are 7-2-1 while going without a power-play lamplighter in 18 extra-man opportunities dating back to March 7.
Ovechkin scored Washington’s most recent power play goal on March 5 against the Rangers in New York. As he has crept closer to Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goals mark, too often the Caps have leaned toward getting pucks to Ovechkin on the power play, and it has made their extra-man unit more predictable in zone, in addition to its other glaring issue, that of entering the zone cleanly.
“I think that's a decent point,” says Carbery. “I do think that's a decent point of maybe some situations where we could have been a little bit more selfish and shot a puck. And what the hard thing to understand – or in the moment when [Ovechkin] is slightly open – is to appreciate the fact that if you attack over here, and maybe there's a guy on his way out to [Ovechkin], and maybe you could put it over there and he's going to shoot it, but it's just an okay one timer opportunity. If you attack from over here and take what's given, it'll open up an opportunity for him in the next 10 to 12 to 15 seconds. And that's, it's a hard thing to understand.
“If I attack over here, it's going to create something down the road. And that's what our power play has to get back – the entry stuff, the puck recoveries, for sure, becoming more connected with what we’re doing. But at the end of the day, good power plays attack the interior – whatever that looks like, whether that’s a shot from up top, whether it's a one timer, or whether it's a low attack. Whatever way you attack, it's low attack, attack the net, get the puck back and do it again, and do it three or four times, and then usually you break a penalty kill down and something glorious opens up off of those attacks.
“And that's where we have gone a little bit dry, and you saw it last game. We had a really good power play where we almost score, and the first unit ended up staying almost the full two minutes. We had six or seven attacks at the net, and we got it back. And now you have a penalty kill fatigued, and now we almost score back door on a slip pass from [P-L] Dubois to [Dylan] Strome. So that's the way. We just need to have more sequences like that, and it'll open up [Ovechkin’s] one timer from those as a result of those scenarios.”
The 300 Club – Caps defenseman Rasmus Sandin clicks the odometer at 300 games this afternoon against the Sabres. As a 19-year-old on Oct. 2, 2019 in Toronto’s season opener against Ottawa, Sandin made his NHL debut with the Leafs. Sandin’s debut came about 15 months after Toronto selected him in the first round (29th overall) in the 2018 NHL Draft.
Although he skated just 8:58 in his debut that night, he picked up his first NHL point with an assist on a Trevor Moore goal against ex-Caps goalie – future ex-Caps goalie at that time – Craig Anderson.
Sandin came to the Caps in a Feb. 28, 2023 trade with Toronto, and last month he surpassed his total number of games played with the Leafs (140) during his half decade with the organization. During his days with the Leafs, he recorded 48 points (10 goals, 38 assists) while averaging 16:40 per game in ice time. In 159 contests with Washington, Sandin has totaled 65 points (10 goals, 55 assists) while averaging 20:22 per game in ice time.
Sandin turned 25 earlier this month, and he has become a top-four fixture in Washington in his 25 months with the Capitals.
Ovechkin Outlook – As we head into today’s game with the Sabres, Washington has 10 games remaining in the season, and Ovechkin is six goals shy of passing Wayne Gretzky (894) for the top spot on the NHL’s all-time goals ledger.
Today’s game also starts a stretch of four games in six nights this week, and in three of those four games, the Caps are facing teams in the League’s bottom six in goals against since the Four Nations pause.
With 71 goals allowed in its last 18 games, Buffalo ranks third from the bottom of the League across that span, and the Sabres’ average of 3.54 goals against per game this season is fourth worst in the NHL.
Against today’s likely starter James Reimer, Ovechkin has six goals on 68 shots (8.8%) in 13 career games.
Tuesday, the Caps play the Bruins in Boston. Back from a fruitless five-game trip (0-5-0) in which they were outscored by a combined 23-7, the B’s are winless in their last eight games (0-7-1) and their 3-13-3 mark since Feb. 5 is by far the worst mark in the circuit over that span. Boston has yielded 3.28 goals per game this season, eighth highest in the League. Since the Four Nations pause, the B’s have allowed 62 goals in 17 games, sixth most in the NHL.
The Caps will play in Carolina on Wednesday; their two remaining games against the Hurricanes are the only two of Washington’s 10 remaining games against teams currently in a playoff spot, as of this morning.
Washington will return home for the fourth of those six games, a Friday night tilt against Chicago, which is ironically the only team the Caps have not collected at least a point against this season. The Hawks have allowed more goals against (73 in 18 games) since the Four Nations pause than any other club in the League, and their seasonal rate of 3.59 goals against per game is third highest in the NHL.
Ovechkin has 41 goals against Buffalo in 66 career games, he has 29 goals in 68 games against the Bruins, 51 goals in 91 games against Carolina, and 15 goals in 25 career games against Chicago.
The Caps captain has not gone more than three games without scoring this season, and he has five multi-goal games, including a hat trick. This week could be good one for Ovechkin to close the narrowing gap between himself and Gretzky.
In The Nets – Logan Thompson gets the start in net for the Capitals today against the Sabres. Since the NHL resumed play following its annual three-day holiday break in late December, Thompson is 18-2-4 and he is tied for fourth in the NHL in victories over that span. His .919 save pct. ranks fifth and his 2.26 GAA ranks sixth among all netminders with 15 or more appearances across that span.
More recently, Thompson is 3-0-1 in his last four starts with a 1.99 GAA and a .924 save pct. Lifetime against Buffalo, Thompson is 2-2-0 in four appearances – all starts – with a 4.28 GAA and an .855 save pct.
For the Sabres, we’re expecting to see veteran Reimer in net today; Ukka-Pekka Luukkonen started and went the distance in a 7-4 loss to the Flyers on Saturday afternoon. On the season, Reimer is 5-8-2 in 17 appearances with a 2.94 GAA and a .901 save pct.
Lifetime against Washington, Reimer is 6-4-2 in 13 appearances – all starts – with a shutout, a 2.26 GAA and a .933 save pct.
All Lined Up – Here’s how we believe the Capitals and the Sabres might look on Sunday afternoon in the District:
WASHINGTON
Forwards
21-Protas, 17-Strome, 8-Ovechkin
24-McMichael, 80-Dubois, 43-Wilson
88-Mangiapane, 20-Eller, 16-Raddysh
22-Duhaime, 26-Dowd, 72-Beauvillier
Defensemen
38-Sandin, 74-Carlson
6-Chychrun, 57-van Riemsdyk
42-Fehervary, 3-Roy
Goaltenders
48-Thompson
79-Lindgren
Extras
27-Alexeyev
52-McIlrath
53-Frank
Out/Injured
15-Milano (upper body)
19-Backstrom (hip)
77-Oshie (back)
BUFFALO
Forwards
9-Benson, 20-Kulich, 72-Thompson
77-Peterka, 71-McLeod, 22-Quinn
17-Zucker, 19-Krebs, 89-Tuch
29-Malenstyn, 48-Kozak, 63-Rosen
Defensemen
25-Power, 24-Bernard-Docker
4-Byram, 75-Clifton
23-Samuelsson, 78-Bryson
Goaltenders
47-Reimer
1-Luukkonen
Extras
21-Gaunce
34-Crotty
47-Chisholm
Out/Injured
12-Greenway (lower body)
13-Norris (undisclosed)
26-Dahlin (illness)
81-Lafferty (lower body)
