Top 3 keys to victory for the Capitals against Devils

The Washington Capitals take on the New Jersey Devils tonight at 7 p.m. at the Prudential Center. Here are some top 3 keys to victory as the Caps look to improve on their early 3-3-0 record. Last season the Capitals won the season series with New Jersey 2-0-1.

#3 Even strength success

The Capitals need to continue to do well on even strength. Just how good have they been at five on five. Let’s break it down.

The Caps have scored a total of 14 goals at five on five this season. That’s tied for the fourth most in the NHL through games played Oct. 22nd. 15 of the 20 skaters the Capitals have dressed this season have recorded at least one point.

Conor Sheary leads the Caps with three even strength goals. John Carlson, Marcus Johansson, Anthony Mantha, Nic Dowd, and Lars Eller each have two. Alex Ovechkin has one.

It’s an ordinary start for the great eight as he only has two goals this season. But knowing Ovechkin, he’s due to break out at any given point in the season. No better time than now where the home ice distractions are gone for the next four games.

Even strength isn’t the only key to a win as we’ll discuss on the next slide.

#2 Power play needs to keep buzzing

Everyone complained about the power play to start the season. Even I did. But lately the power play has gotten a whole lot better. That could be either Blaine Forsythe changing things up or it could be the players starting to click.

Here’s what the units looked like at morning skate from Samantha Pell of The Washington Post:

PP1: Ovechkin, Carlson, Oshie, Strome, Johansson

PP2: Orlov, Gustafsson, Kuznetsov, Mantha, Sheary

Over their last four games, the Capitals have converted on five out of 12 power play opportunities which equates to a success rate of 41.7 percent.

Overall the power play has been alright except for the early goings. They were 0 for 9 in the first two games to start the season which were both losses to the Boston Bruins and the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Overall the Caps are in the middle of the pack on the man advantage which was kind of expected this early in the season. Their success rate is at 23.8 percent.

The Caps have scored five total power play goals this season. T.J. Oshie leads the team with two power play goals. Anthony Mantha, Alex Ovechkin, and Dylan Strome each have one power play goal.