Can the Washington Capitals start a winning streak on home ice?
Now that the Washington Capitals answered the much needed wake up call, next they will need to try and turn this into a trend. This marked the Capitals first win in five games and the first of February, not to mention the first win against the Penguins in 2021. Now is the time to build on getting all those firsts out of the way. How did they break through and find the win column again?
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The game started with the Washington Capitals eliminating most of the opportunities they have been allowing of late. No free space given and what appeared to be fresh legs all over the lineup, evidenced by their ability to create good scoring chances repeatedly. But as is the case against tough opponents, it took until the middle of the second period before the chances paid off with a snipe off the blade of Conor Sheary against his former team. Not long after a similar score came from the recently hot Jakub Vrana to put the Capitals up 2-0. This one came in a situation the Capitals usually are guilty of committing, leaving holes in the back end of the defensive zone.
The momentum carried over at the beginning of the 3rd period with a score from Lars Eller to make it 3-0. This would typically worry any Capitals fan given this is the worst lead to trust, although they would allow one goal near the end of the final period they would hold on for the much needed win.
Next up will be the Buffalo Sabres who will travel to the Capitals home ice for the start of a five game home stand. This makes for a good follow up to breaking a losing streak, given the Washington Capitals have a 3-1 season series lead with the lone loss coming off a shootout. Provided the team gets another stellar performance from their third line and shutdown play from Vitek Vanecek this should make for an easier path to victory.
With a quarter of the season gone, the Capitals need to string together a near perfect home stretch to get themselves back in a position to lead the East Division. Currently they sit in fourth place, only 5 standings points out of first place. To help hammer home the importance of keeping up with the wins, last place in the division is only 7 standings points away. It’s time to see whether the team can learn from their mistakes and put together more than one 60 minute game.
Will we see more top notch play from the 3rd line and goalie, or will there be another line stepping up to provide to push needed to keep the wins coming? Here is how to find out:
Date: February 18, 2021
Time: 7 p.m. EST
Where: Capital One Arena
TV Broadcast: NBC Sports Washington
Radio: Caps Radio 24/7
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