Washington Capitals: Top 5 home games to look forward to in 2019-20

#5 Feb. 8, 2020 vs. Philadelphia Flyers

This Saturday night affair at Capital One Arena comes towards the latter half of a four-game midseason homestand. This Metropolitan Division rivalry game comes in the midst of a new chapter with two defensemen on opposite sides. Although this will be the third of four meetings, it’ll be the first time Washington Capitals fans will see the crossover firsthand. Radko Gudas in Capitals red, Matt Niskanen in Flyers orange.

Niskanen was traded to the Flyers to slightly free up some tight salary cap space. They were able to acquire Gudas with the Flyers retaining $1.05 of his $2.345 million cap hit.

Gudas is the central part of a new-look Capitals defense. Niskanen was one of the biggest leaders of the blueline, along with now-retired Brooks Orpik, that always gave an honest answer with the media when assessing the teams performance. Niskanen’s performance in the 2018 playoffs helped the Capitals to their first Stanley Cup and fans are highly likely to give him an ovation for all he did for the Capitals.

The Capitals swept the four game season series last year as the Flyers finished sixth in the Metropolitan Division with a .500 record of 37-37-8. They’ll look to guys like Niskanen to help right the ship.

#4 Oct. 14, 2019 vs. Colorado Avalanche

In just the third home game of the season Capitals fans will say hello to two old friends. Andre Burakovsky was traded to the Colorado Avalanche just days before free agency and he joins an Avalanche team poised to make a deep Western Conference playoff run.

Fans will also see Philipp Grubauer, who established himself in Washington as one of the top backup goaltenders in the NHL. During his final season in D.C., Grubauer went 15-10-3 in with a 2.35 goals-against average and a .923 save percentage, both career-bests. He beat out Braden Holtby for the starter’s job to begin the playoffs but Holtby regained his Vezina-winning form.

After winning the Stanley Cup, the Capitals traded Grubauer, along with Brooks Orpik to the Avalanche. While Orpik became the Avalanche legend that never played a game, Grubauer went from backup in the regular season to a starter in net by the time Game 1 of the playoffs begun this past spring thanks to a hot stretch of going 7-0-2 in his final nine starts.

Sound familiar? It was quite a turnaround of where he was a prior. Grubauer won the starting job for the Capitals with his “hot hand” but then lost it entering the third period of Game 2 of Washington’s first round series after allowing three straight goals in the second period, squandering a Capitals 3-1 lead against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Grubauer backstopped the Avalanche to a first round victory over the Calgary Flames in five games before falling to the San Jose Sharks in a seven-game second round joust. Grubauer had a 2.30 GAA in the spring and a .925 save percentage.

The Capitals won both games against the Avalanche in overtime last season with Evgeny Kuznetsov as the home hero at Capital One Arena on Feb. 7.

#3 vs. Pittsburgh Penguins Feb. 2

It’s Super Bowl Sunday but the biggest game of the day won’t be taking place on the football field. With a 12:30 p.m. puck drop, the Capitals vs. Pittsburgh Penguins matchup is the perfect appetizer and the perfect way to pregame before we all watch four hours worth of the best commercials of the year (just kidding, football is cool. Hockey is just a tad cooler).

But there’s no better way begin the biggest sports day on the calendar than to watch Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby go head-to-head. Two of the NHL’s best players for over a decade and a half, it’s always a memorable bout when those two go at it.

This matchup will be the first meeting between the two rivals and it’ll be interesting to see where both these teams will be at when February approaches. We all know how different the Capitals look this offseason. The Penguins will have a much different team in 2019-20. Gone will be Phil Kessel, Olli Maatta, and Matt Cullen. The Penguins went younger this offseason adding Alex Galchenyuk, Dominik Kahun, and Brandon Tanev.

Although the Capitals won just one game last season, it happened to be one of the more memorable home games of the season. After taking two crushing hits and coming out of the game, T.J. Oshie sent Caps fans home happy with a game-winning goal with 1:24 left.

On Feb. 2, 2020 will be a day for the history books, the beginning of a new chapter of a fierce rivalry.

#2 Tampa Bay Lightning Nov. 29

Ah yes, the beginning of the holiday season. One tradition the Capitals have had each season is having a home game the night before Thanksgiving followed by a home game on Black Friday. While Thanksgiving Eve features the return of Brett Connolly and the Florida Panthers as well as a potential fun goalie matchup between Braden Holtby and Sergei Bobrovsky, Capitals games vs. the Tampa Bay Lightning will be must-watch.

The Lightning were the most unstoppable team in the NHL last season, accumulating 128 points with a 62-16-4 record en route to the Presidents’ Trophy with the league’s best record. Led by the offensive attack of Steven Stamkos, Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point and backstopped by Andrei Vasilevskiy, the lineup was primed for a deep playoff run. In stunning fashion, they not only folded in the playoffs but got swept in the first round.

Now the Lightning enter 2019-20 with a huge chip on their shoulder and this matchup should feature everything a fan of high-scoring could want. The two teams had three memorable games last season and it would’ve been a fun Eastern Conference Final series. Maybe this year it’ll happen.

The Capitals went 1-1-1 and the contest that took place at Capital One Arena on March 20 was one of the most exciting home games to watch. A combined nine goals, PPGs galore, back-and-fourth momentum shifts. That game had it all, man.

That was the lone time the Lightning came to the District but they’ll be back less than a month later on December 21.

#1 vs. Carolina Hurricanes Oct. 5

As silly as it sounds having the home opener as the number one game to look forward to, it makes perfect sense. When the Capitals return to D.C. after road stops in St. Louis and New York for two games, a familiar foe awaits them. The same opponent that ended Washington’s season on their ice.

The Carolina Hurricanes were the biggest story of the NHL, from the storm surge, to  a midseason turnaround, to playoff upsets over both the Capitals and Islanders. Carolina rallied from 2-0 and 3-2 series deficits to stun the Caps in double overtime in Game 7 thanks to Brock McGinn‘s goal.

The Hurricanes look to make noise in a competitive Metropolitan Division after their offseason signings of Patrick Marleau from the Toronto Maple Leafs and Erik Haula from the Vegas Golden Knights. They additionally re-signed Sebastian Aho, matching the Montreal Canadiens offer sheet, to a five-year, $42,270,000 deal. His AAV will be $8,454,000 each season.

Capitals home openers always have a special buzz around the city with the return of hockey. Players will likely arrive to the arena to greet fans outside in their annual “Rock the Red carpet” tradition. Once everyone’s inside, the fun truly begins.

No matter what happens in the first two games of the season, there’s no doubt the Capitals will get up for this game. Being on the road in two different cities and coming home to a fanbase that’s waited since late April for hockey, the Capitals look for payback against those “Bunch of jerks.”

And with that there’s our top five home games to look forward to. Start making your plans now! If you missed the top five road games, you can catch up here. Agree with our list and rankings? Did we miss anybody? Let us know in the comments.