The Washington Capitals are back in action for Black Friday as they host the Florida Panthers in a special 5 p.m. start time. The late afternoon matinee will be a great way to unwind after a crazy day shopping or eating Thanksgiving leftovers while listening to your uncle continue to tell the lamest jokes like the night before.
The Caps crushed the Montreal Canadiens 6-3 on Wednesday night outshooting them 34-28 and scoring in their only power play chance of the night. Good games from Nic Dowd, John Carlson, and Alex Ovechkin.
The Caps will be looking for revenge against the Panthers. Their last meeting resulted in a 5-4 overtime loss on Nov. 4. The Caps have earned a point in 22 of their last 28 games against Florida with a 17-6-5 record. Ovechkin has earned 85 points with 40 goals and 45 assists in 66 career games against the Panthers, marking the fourth most points he has earned against an NHL franchise.
The Caps held a practice on Thursday. Nicklas Backstrom (hip), Conor Sheary (upper body), and Lars Eller (back from California quarantine) were all on the ice ahead of practice in non contact jerseys. Jeff Schultz wasn’t on the ice, he left Wednesday’s game with an upper body injury. Dennis Cholowski was getting reps in his place.
Tonight’s game is the second of three between the two teams with the final matchup coming on Tuesday back in the Sunshine State. The Caps win against the Canadiens marked the second straight home game the team got six goals from six different goal scorers, getting contributions up and down the lineup. It was also the third straight game where they scored the games opening goal off their first shot of the game.
Dowd got the party started at 3:34 just moments after the Caps killed off the first penalty of the night. The Caps would later get a goal from Evgeny Kuznetsov less than an a minute after the Caps killed off another Habs power play. In addition to scoring the games only power play goal of the night, the Caps penalty kill stopped all three Canadiens power plays.
The Caps penalty kill has catapulted to the top 10 in the NHL with a killing rate of 84.3 percent. They killed off 21 of 22 situations shorthanded in their last 10 games which is a success rate of 95.5 percent.
Here’s how to watch the game and don’t forget to be kind to your retail workers while shopping. They all want to watch the game too.
Date: Nov. 26, 2021
Time: 5 p.m.
Where: Capital One Arena
What Channel Is The Capitals Game On: NBC Sports Washington
Radio: 106.7 The Fan and Caps Radio 24/7
Betting Odds: The betting odds on WynnBET have the Capitals as -1.5 favorites at home against the Panthers in their traditional Black Friday game. The moneyline is at 105 for both teams including both in the negative so yeah -105 for the moneyline. The over/under for tonight’s game is 6.0.
Live Streaming: fuboTV has live NHL games on ESPN in which you can stream from your phone, television, and all your favorite devices. This is a service that broadcasts live TV over the internet, no cable required. Watch your favorite teams, network shows, news, and movies on 100+ channels. Plus on-demand entertainment including full TV series. fuboTV is currently available in the United States, Canada, and Spain.
Reddit: Reddit can sometimes have streams of live NHL games but make sure they are legal. The official NHL Subreddit is located at https://www.reddit.com/r/nhl/.