Top 3 key Capitals to watch against Kraken
The Washington Capitals take on the Seattle Kraken tonight as fans get a sweet reverse retro snapback hat while the team takes the ice in those fire jerseys. For more info on how to watch and bet on the game, click here.
Read on to learn more about the key players to watch in tonight’s matchup.
The Caps are looking to win three in a row and avenge a loss last Thursday to the Kraken where they blew a 2-0 lead to fall in overtime. The Caps are 12-12-4 with 28 points, just three points behind the Detroit Red Wings for the second and final playoff spot.
The Kraken are having a good season with a 15-7-3 record, good for 33 points and second place in the Pacific Division. They will come in hungry having lost two in a row.
Here are the top 3 key players to watch:
#3 Charlie Lindgren
Charlie Lindgren has filled in nicely for Darcy Kuemper as he continues to heal from his upper body injury. At Philadelphia against the Flyers, he stopped 29 of 30 shots including all 21 shots faced at five on five.
Over his last two starts, Lindgren is 2-0-0 with a 1.51 goals against average and a .950 save percentage. The Capitals have earned at least one point in six of the eight games Lindgren has started this season. He is 4-2-2.
#2 John Carlson
John Carlson is in the middle of possibly his best season yet. He recorded two assists on Wednesday night at Philadelphia, marking his fifth multi point game of the season and the 139th of his career.
Carlson is tied with Victor Hedman of the Tampa Bay Lightning for the fourth most multi point games among active defensemen. Brent Burns has 175, Erik Karlsson has 168 and Kris Letang has 151.
Carlson recorded both of his assists in the third period, including the primary assist on Dylan Strome’s game winning goal. Carlson’s three game winning assists this season rank tied for first on the Capitals with Erik Gustafsson, Alex Ovechkin and Strome.
Carlson has scored six of his eight goals this season in the third period. He also has recorded four of his eight assists in the third period.
Seven of Carlson’s eight goals have come when the Caps have trailed, with two being game tying goals. Those happened in October on the 17th against the Vancouver Canucks and the 22nd against the Los Angeles Kings.
Carlson’s eight goals this season rank tied for third among NHL defensemen. Carlson has recorded nine points in his last 11 games with six goals and three assists.
#1 Alex Ovechkin
Alex Ovechkin is closing in on 800 career goals. He scored two empty net goals on Wednesday against the Flyers, marking the 50th and 51st empty net goals of his career. Only Wayne Gretzky has more empty net goals in NHL history with 56.
It marked the second game in Ovechkin’s career in which he scored two empty net goals. The previous occasion was on Nov. 30, 2019 at the Detroit Red Wings.
Ovechkin is now five goals shy of becoming the third player in NHL history to score 800 career goals and seven goals shy of passing Gordie Howe (801) for second on the NHL’s all time goals list.
Ovechkin (currently at 159 games played) can require the fewest games between milestone goals number 700 and number 800 and become the first to make the jump in fewer than 200 contests.
After he reached the 700 goal milestone on Feb. 22, 2020 against the New Jersey Devils, the Capitals captain has found the back of the net 95 times since which is an average of 0.60 goals per game over that span. It’s a rate just shy of his overall career average (0.60 goals scored per game).
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Ovechkin ranks first in NHL history with 291 power play goals and 25 overtime goals as well as second in game winning goals (124) and multi goal games (161) while fourth in even strength goals (499).