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Top 3 early predictions for the Capitals in January

By Michael Marzzacco

Conor Sheary, Washington Capitals (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)
Conor Sheary, Washington Capitals (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images) /
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Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports
Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports /

The Washington Capitals are gearing up for a back to back weekend affair beginning Friday night where they’ll take on the two teams that were featured in this year’s Winter Classic. First up is the St. Louis Blues on Friday night and the road trip concludes the next night against the Minnesota Wild.

The Caps held a practice on Wednesday at MedStar Capitals Iceplex with some good news. Goaltender Ilya Samsonov was on the ice after he left Tuesday’s practice early. The Caps also recalled Michael Sgarbossa from the Hershey Bears after sending him there yesterday. He reported to the taxi squad.

The Caps said Dmitry Orlov didn’t practice today due to an upper body injury. T.J. Oshie and Nicklas Backstrom are still out with a non COVID illness while Connor McMichael returned to practice as he recovered from his non COVID illness.

Evgeny Kuznetsov, Washington Capitals (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)
Evgeny Kuznetsov, Washington Capitals (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images) /

#3 The Caps will win an overtime game

This is something the Caps need to figure out and overcome sooner rather than later. The last thing you want is to enter the playoffs, where intense overtime games are imminent, and still be winless in the extra session, 3 on 3 or not.

The Caps are 0-7 so far this season in the 3 on 3 skills challenge. Their latest defeat occurred on Sunday after the Caps forced the extra session with a comeback from a 3-1 deficit. That defeat included some costly turnovers and a missed opportunity from Lars Eller.

"“I thought we had it and we turned it over a lot in overtime,” coach Peter Laviolette said. “We had it, we gave it back, we worked, got it back, gave it back again, won the faceoff, gave it back and that was the story of the night, we were chasing the game and not clean. We gave up too much, too much defensively, too many chances, gave up 20-plus chances you are not going to win a game.”"

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