Top 3 toughest games of January for Capitals
The Washington Capitals are currently 4-4-1 in the month of January. They still have a tough stretch of games coming up as we are more than halfway through the first month of 2023.
Let’s take a look at which games will be the toughest matchups for the Caps.
#3 Jan. 29 at Toronto Maple Leafs 5 p.m.
The Capitals second to last game of the month puts them in a road contest at the Toronto Maple Leafs. A good team but also a team they have thus far split the season series with. Each team won on their home ice.
In the Capitals win Erik Gustafsson notched a hat trick. In the Maple Leafs win, Ilya Samsonov got revenge on his former team in the second game of the season. This will be the third and final meeting between the teams this season.
The Maple Leafs are 28-11-7 with 63 points. That’s good for second in the Atlantic Division while it looks like the Boston Bruins are running away with the President’s Trophy.
They are currently on a two game winning streak, beating the Florida Panthers 5-4 in overtime and the Winnipeg Jets 4-1. Mitch Marner leads the team with 55 points (17 goals and 38 assists). Auston Matthews and William Nylander each have 24 goals.
#2 at Vegas Golden Knights Tonight 10 p.m. eastern
Tonight will be the Caps second toughest game of the month as they take on the Vegas Golden Knights at T Mobile Arena. Although it’s a place where they hoisted the Stanley Cup, in the regular season they’re 0-3-1 in the Sin City.
The Golden Knights come into this game having lost three in a row. Despite this they’re still tied for first place in the Pacific Division. They’re 28-16-2 with 58 points.
Tonight is the second and final meeting between the teams this regular season. Former Cap Chandler Stephenson leads the Golden Knights with 40 points (11 goals, 29 assists). Reilly Smith has 18 goals.
The Caps had a morning skate today. Alex Ovechkin was not participating due to maintenance. Anthony Mantha, who was scratched for the last couple games, skated in his place.
Tonight should be an entertaining game. You can catch it at 10 p.m. eastern on NBC Sports Washington. The Caps will look to get their first win in Las Vegas since the night they won the Stanley Cup. And if they keep winning they’ll look to one day do it again.
Those are the first two tough games of the month of January. The last one we’ll go over is the toughest.
#1 vs. Pittsburgh Penguins Jan. 26 7 p.m.
Don’t let the Pittsburgh Penguins record of 23-15-7 for 53 points fool you. Don’t let them being down by three points to the Caps in the Metropolitan Division and Wild Card standings fool you. The Penguins will be the toughest matchup of the month for the Capitals.
Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin aren’t getting any younger. Neither are Evgeni Malkin or Evgeny Kuznetsov. Nor Kris Letang or John Carlson, or if we’re using someone who will actually play this game, Dmitry Orlov.
This game will be the second of there meetings between the teams this season. They won’t meet again until March 25 in Pittsburgh. The Caps dropped the first matchup 4-1 back on Nov. 9.
The Penguins beat the Ottawa Senators 4-1 last night and have won two of their last three games. Crosby leads the Penguins with 21 goals and 32 assists for 53 points. He’s been playing really well.
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The game is going to get boring when both Crosby and Ovechkin retire so soak in this game as well as the upcoming NHL All Star Game if both players participate. We don’t have much time with them left. We gotta enjoy it while it lasts. But it’ll be fun and it was fun.