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Capitals: Top 3 impact players to watch against Devils

By Michael Marzzacco |
NEWARK, NJ - DECEMBER 20: Alex Ovechkin #8 of the Washington Capitals celebrates with teammate John Carlson #74 after Carlson scored a goal in the third period of an NHL hockey game on November 20, 2019 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Paul Bereswill/Getty Images)
NEWARK, NJ - DECEMBER 20: Alex Ovechkin #8 of the Washington Capitals celebrates with teammate John Carlson #74 after Carlson scored a goal in the third period of an NHL hockey game on November 20, 2019 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Paul Bereswill/Getty Images)
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WASHINGTON, DC – FEBRUARY 20: Alex Ovechkin #8 of the Washington Capitals in action against the Montreal Canadiens during the third period at Capital One Arena on February 20, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC – FEBRUARY 20: Alex Ovechkin #8 of the Washington Capitals in action against the Montreal Canadiens during the third period at Capital One Arena on February 20, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) /

The Washington Capitals begin a back-to-back weekend stretch this afternoon in New Jersey.

The Washington Capitals are struggling and head into this game having dropped three in a row including an overtime defeat on home ice to the Montreal Canadiens. It was a contest that the Capitals fought hard in but came up short.

Alex Ovechkin got the Caps on the board to start things out with a goal right off the face-off draw for goal number 699. It came at 7:29 in the first period and Nicklas Backstrom had the assist.

The Canadiens tied it with a goal from Shea Weber at 17:43. 1-1 was the score after 20 with the Caps outshooting the Canadiens 9-7.

The Caps took the lead in the second period at 17:03 with a wraparound goal from Lars Eller for his 15th of the year. Carl Hagelin and Richard Panik had the helpers.

Brendan Gallagher tied it one minute and 34 seconds later. 2-2 was the score after two. The Caps were outshot 17-12 in the second period. The Canadiens took the lead with a tally from Ben Chiarot 30 seconds into the third.

After the Caps pulled their goalie for an extra attacker, they got the game tying goal with 20.1 seconds left thanks to Tom Wilson jamming it in the net for his 18th goal of the season.

Chiarot won the game in overtime 58 seconds in to give the Caps their third loss in a row. They look to turn it around this afternoon against the Devils. Here are the top 3 players to watch.

WASHINGTON, DC – FEBRUARY 02: A general view of the scoreboard during the first period of the game against the Pittsburgh Penguins as John Carlson #74 of the Washington Capitals is recognized for passing Calle Johansson to become the franchise leader in assists by a defenseman at Capital One Arena on February 2, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC – FEBRUARY 02: A general view of the scoreboard during the first period of the game against the Pittsburgh Penguins as John Carlson #74 of the Washington Capitals is recognized for passing Calle Johansson to become the franchise leader in assists by a defenseman at Capital One Arena on February 2, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images) /

John Carlson

John Carlson was held off the scoresheet in Washington’s overtime defeat to Montreal and finished with a -1 with two shots, a hit, and blocked three shots in 25:36. His ice time was the most among skaters.

Carlson sits just two points shy of passing Callle Johansson for the most points in franchise history by a defensemen. Carlson has 55 assists which leads all defensemen and is second in the NHL and has 70 points. Carlson reached the 50-assist total in his 54th game. He became the NHL’s fifth different blueliner in the last 30 years to reach the 50-assist plateau in 54 games or fewer and the first since Sergei Zubov in 1993-94.

Carlson is on pace to finish with 95 points. Only five defensemen in NHL history have recorded 100 points in a season. He is also one point shy of surpassing his career high that was set last season (13 goals, 57 assists) and is 12 points shy of setting the franchise record for most points in a season by a defensemen (Larry Murphy: 81 points in 1986-87).

Carlson returns home to New Jersey where he grew up. Look for him to make an impact in this game on the top pair with Brenden Dillon. That is a shutdown duo.

WASHINGTON, DC – FEBRUARY 02: Ilya Samsonov #30 of the Washington Capitals looks on during the third period of the game against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Capital One Arena on February 2, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC – FEBRUARY 02: Ilya Samsonov #30 of the Washington Capitals looks on during the third period of the game against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Capital One Arena on February 2, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images) /

Ilya Samsonov

Getting the start in goal on Saturday will be Ilya Samsonov while Braden Holtby gets the Penguins on Sunday. He’s been an intergral part of Washington’s road dominance in the NHL having won 10 of their 21 games away from Capital One Arena. Washington’s 21 road wins are the most in the NHL.

Samsonov has a 16-4-1 record through 23 games including a 2.38 goals-against average and a .917 save percentage with a shutout. He’s 10-0-0 as a visitor and is one win away from joining Brent Johnson as the second goaltender in NHL history to win his first 11 road games to begin his NHL career. Johnson did that as a member of the St. Louis Blues in the 2000-01 season.

Samsonov recorded a win in 11 straight decisions from Nov. 30 to Jan. 31, which joined Ross Brooks (14-0-0 in 1973-74) and George Hainsworth (11-0-0 in 1926-27) as just the third rookie goaltender in NL history to string together wins in 11 consecutive decisions.

Samsonov is 2-0-0 against the Devils with a 2.50 goals-against average and a .918 save percentage. He’s also the only goaltender in the NHL with less than five losses with at least 20 games played.

Samsonov’s quality start percentage is at .632, which is sixth in the league among goaltenders who have played at least 23 games. They’ll be counting on Samsonov today to get back on track as well as this next player.

WASHINGTON, DC – FEBRUARY 20: Alex Ovechkin #8 of the Washington Capitals in action against the Montreal Canadiens during the third period at Capital One Arena on February 20, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC – FEBRUARY 20: Alex Ovechkin #8 of the Washington Capitals in action against the Montreal Canadiens during the third period at Capital One Arena on February 20, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) /

Alex Ovechkin

During the Capitals last visit to Prudential Center, Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom played in their 900th NHL game together. Today the Great Eight has a chance to make more history by becoming the next member of the 700 goal club. Tonight is Ovechkin’s 1,144th game and if he gets it would be the second fewest games in NHL history to reach that mark.

Ovechkin would also make the jump from 600 to 700 in just 154 games, the fewest amount of games to make that jump for any member of the club. It would also mark the second-fewest games Ovechkin took to go from one hundred goal milestone to another. It took him 129 games to go from 100 to 200 goals.

Ovechkin has averaged 0.61 goals per game in his career which ranks fifth in NHL history including a league best 0.58 rating since his 30th birthday.

Ovechkin has cored 29 goals in 56 regular season games against the Devils including 10 on the road in 25 games. With rookie Samsonov starting on one end the Devils will likely go with rookie netminder MacKenzie Blackwood. Ovechkin has scored once against Blackwood in three games which occurred on Dec. 20, 2019.

Related Story. Capitals at Devils preview. light

Will this be the day Ovechkin finally reaches 700 goals? Puck drop is at 1 p.m. on NBC Sports Washington and the NHL Network.

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