Washington Capitals: Top 5 expectations for opening week
OK now we can say it. Washington Capitals hockey is back. And we’ve got your guide for opening week.
There are many storylines, burning questions, and lots of intrigue as the Washington Capitals open up the 2019-20 season. Opening week starts on Wednesday night in St. Louis against the Blues in what is sure to be an exciting matchup featuring the last two Stanley Cup champions.
Following that, the team heads to New York to take on the Islanders and the very next night will come home to host the Carolina Hurricanes.
The Capitals will have a challenging first month of the season ahead of them. The first three games are epic battles in themselves. After that, they’ll face the Dallas Stars twice in the same week and go to Nashville.
Right in the middle of the month on Columbus Day, we all welcome back Andre Burakovsky. What follows is home games against the always tough Toronto Maple Leafs as well as Kaapo Kakko and the New York Rangers.
Then comes a different beast, a five-game western conference road trip to end the month of October.
The Capitals will trim their roster to 23 players and take the ice in St. Louis on Wednesday night. For now, here are the five expectations for opening week.
#1 Braden Holtby’s time to shine
It’s all eyes on the Holtbeast this season. Braden Holtby enters the last year of his contract and his most important season to date. Holtby is expected to get the nod for opening night while likely starting in net for one of the next two contests after that since they’re a back-to-back this weekend.
I see Holtby starting the home opener on Saturday against the Carolina Hurricanes while either Pheonix Copley or Ilya Samsonov gets the nod on Friday night in New York.
Holtby will look for a much better season than the last two years, and these defensive upgrades over the offseason should make life a little bit easier in front of the net. That’s not to say the Caps won’t still be counting on Holtby to pull them out of games whenever the offense is struggling.
Last season Holtby finished 32-19-5 with a 2.82 GAA and a .911 save percentage. Holtby will look to win at least 40 games to return to his Vezina-winning form and it all starts Wednesday night when he goes up against Vladimir Tarasenko and the defending Stanley Cup champions.
One thing is certain, he doesn’t want that expiring contract to be a distraction to the team. Doubt it will with this being an all-in season.
#2 Alex Ovechkin on a mission
If the last two opening weeks were any indication, Alex Ovechkin will play like a man on a mission. What does that look like for one who just turned 34?
Last season in the first three games, Ovechkin scored four goals and added an assist. That includes a goal on Banner Night in a 7-1 thrashing of the Boston Bruins, a goal in Pittsburgh and two against the Vegas Golden Knights.
The year before? Well two games as a sample size does it justice. Ovechkin had back-to-back hat tricks with three goals in Ottawa and four in Washington’s home opener against the Montreal Canadiens that year.
Ovechkin has shown how much he loves the big stage and the entire hockey world will be watching the Capitals take on the Blues Wednesday night to open the season with the game being nationally televised on the NBC Sports Network.
One burning question is whether or not Ovechkin can score 50 goals for the second season in a row. Even if he doesn’t he’s just 42 goals away from 700 career goals and it’ll be a milestone we’ll be watching him chase all season long.
#3 One last dance for the core?
Us Capitals fans have been spoiled over the past decade with one of the most solid cores in the NHL. Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, Braden Holtby, and John Carlson. These are the guys who have been among the team the longest and have helped make the Capitals into the team that they are today.
Neither Holtby, nor Nicklas Backstrom, wants to hear contract talks whatsoever. That’s up to us as the fans or the media to predict what both players contracts will look like.
In the case of Nicklas Backstrom and Alex Ovechkin, the two have been inseparable. Ovechkin would obviously love to see Backstrom end his career in Washington and he echoed that statement.
Ovechkin told Samantha Pell of The Washington Post (subscription required):
“You know, I think what we did for the city, what we did for the team, it’s going to be forever, right? So I hope [Backstrom will] sign long term, and he will stay until the last day. His legacy is here, and I think he would not have more fun to play on different teams than here.”
In an important season coming up, us as fans have to sit back and enjoy the full core four while it lasts. There’s no guarantees it’ll last beyond this season but enjoying the ride will make things much easier. The summer of 2020 should be the last thing on Caps fans minds right now.
#4 The Tom Wilson revenge game
Tom Wilson has been known to get under the skin of opposing players, coaches and fans alike. Once again he was involved in a preseason finale but it wasn’t to his own doing. Late in the second period on Sunday afternoon against the Carolina Hurricanes, Wilson got into a shoving match with players on the bench after he heard a coach yelling at him.
The video, which you can see here, shows Rod Brind’Amour chirping in Wilson’s direction. Wilson got a game misconduct and was ejected from the game after those shoves on the bench yet there was no call or penalty on the other side.
Wilson spoke about the incident after the game and head coach Todd Reirden defended Wilson and condemned Brind’Amour’s behavior.
Reirden told Samantha Pell from The Washington Post (subscription required):
“You don’t get a chance to play anymore when you are a coach so you shouldn’t be talking to someone who is playing and to me, that is off-limits and that is something I have always believed as a player, as a coach. No coaches should be yelling at players on other teams because you have no chance to go out and do anything about it and hockey is a special game and in respect to the battle and the compete and enthusiasm and all the passion that is out there, but it is for the players and when the coaches get involved, to me that is wrong.”
Not only is it wrong but very immature for someone who’s supposed to lead a group of players, not wish they were one. The Capitals will see the Hurricanes this Saturday at Capital One Arena in their home opener and I see Wilson having a multi-goal game and a few clean hits that will keep him out of trouble.
#5 Opening night lineup
There was speculation after the offseason additions but now that training camp and preseason are in the books, we know exactly who’s there. That doesn’t mean there aren’t any holes in the lineup however.
The last round of cuts occurred when the team placed Christian Djoos, Mike Sgarbossa, and Liam O’Brien on waivers while sending Shane Gersich (who’s exempt from waivers) to Hershey. Djoos, Sgarbossa and O’Brien all cleared and are back with the Bears.
The Capitals will be missing Michal Kempny for opening night, who isn’t 100% ready yet after suffering a hamstring injury in March. The team placed him on the injured non roster, meaning he can be activated at any time when healthy.
The Capitals will also be missing top line center Evgeny Kuznetsov with a three-game suspension, opening up an opportunity for Chandler Stephenson or Travis Boyd.
With that all said, here’s how the lineup should look tonight (via Daily Face-Off)
Forwards
Ovechkin-Backstrom-Wilson
Vrana-Eller-Oshie
Hagelin-Stepenson-Panik
Leipsic-Dowd-Hathaway
Defense
Siegenthaler-Carlson
Orlov-Jensen
Fehervary-Gudas
One player on the defense that the Caps spoke highly of during the preseason is Martin Fehervary, who steps in with the absence of Kempny. He was a second round pick back in 2018 and is another quality defensive prospect that was in the system.
Capitals director of player development Steve Richmond told Isabelle Khurshudyan of The Washington Post back in July (subscription required):
“We’re all big fans of his. I think he’s got a chance to play in the NHL this year. He does everything well. He’s a great skater; he competes. He works hard off the ice and on the ice; he’s smart. I think he’s really close.”
Now he gets that chance and will be paired next to newcomer Radko Gudas, who I think will wind up becoming a fan favorite in Washington.
Hot. Radko Gudas predictions. light
Those are our five expectations for opening week. Sit back, relax, and enjoy opening night Caps fans. Let the games begin.