Top 3 keys to victory for the Capitals against Canadiens
The Washington Capitals take on the Montreal Canadiens tonight. It’s a big game for the Capitals to get right. You can find out how to watch and bet on the game here. Read on to learn about the top 3 keys to a Capitals victory tonight.
#3 Play 60
The Capitals need to play a complete game from start to finish if they want any chance at beating the Canadiens. They played zero minutes last game against the Ottawa Senators which I didn’t think was possible until they got spanked 6-1.
In the season opener against the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Caps looked good for the first 10 minutes before the Pens took complete control of the game en route to a 4-0 win.
Monday night’s game against the Calgary Flames was much better. But not for the first 20 minutes. In that game the Capitals showed up in the game’s final 40 minutes, 45 if you count overtime. It resulted in a 3-2 win in the shootout. It was a 2-0 deficit after those first 20 minutes.
The Canadiens enter this game with a 1-1-1 record while the Capitals are 1-2-0. They lost their first game 6-5 to the Toronto Maple Leafs in the shootout. They then defeated Connor Bedard’s Chicago Blackhawks in their home opener 3-2 before falling four days ago to the Minnesota Wild 5-2 on home ice.
#2 Power play must wake up
The Caps power play must step up because it hasn’t in years. That’s the cold reality even though the new coach Spencer Carbery was a power play mastermind with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
In the first game against the Penguins, the Capitals went 0 for 3 on the man advantage. They also went 0 for 3 in their second game against the Flames. In the third game against the Senators, the Capitals went 0 for 2.
Adding those up that’s a combined 0 for 8 since the season started. That is BAD in all caps.
The Canadiens penalty kill can be a hit or miss. They allowed two power play goals out of four chances in their season opener against the Maple Leafs. They allowed three power play goals out of eight chances in their loss to the Wild.
Here is where things get scary. Against a Blackhawks team with the most talented youngest player in Connor Bedard, they held the Blackhawks to 0 for 7 on the power play. That’s right they stopped ALL seven of Chicago’s chances on the man advantage.
With Blaine Forsythe gone, the Caps are adapting to a brand new system. Will that new system finally click when the Caps go to the man advantage? Tune in tonight and find out at your own risk.
#1 A new lineup
This throwing the lines into a blender by Carbery might be the biggest key to a win tonight if the game plan works. Let’s look at the lineup the Capitals ran last game side by side with the lineup they’re expected to run tonight. Remember Nic Dowd is missing his second straight game.
At Senators:
Capitals lines in warmups at Ottawa:
— Bailey Johnson (@BaileyAJohnson_) October 18, 2023
Ovechkin-Strome-Wilson
McMichael-Kuznetsov-Oshie
Milano-Backstrom-Phillips
Malenstyn-Protas-Mantha
Sandin-Carlson
Fehervary-TvR
Johansen-Jensen
Kuemper
Nic Dowd is out with an upper body injury
At Canadiens:
Capitals lines at practice in Brossard:
— Bailey Johnson (@BaileyAJohnson_) October 20, 2023
Ovechkin-Strome-Phillips
McMichael-Kuznetsov-Oshie
Milano-Backstrom-Wilson
Malenstyn-Protas-Mantha
Sandin-Carlson
Fehervary-Jensen
Haman Aktell-TvR
Alexeyev-Johansen
Looking at these I see a big change in the defense. This was coming after they recalled Hardy Haman Aktell from the Hershey Bears while placing Charlie Lindgren on IR. Alex Alexeyev and Lucas Johansen look to be the blue line’s healthy scratches.
Nick Jensen moves up to the second pairing while Trevor van Riemsdyk is on the third paring with Haman Aktell.
Now let’s look at the forward lines. The significant move here is Tom Wilson moves to the third line while Matthew Phillips moves up to the top line. Other than that the rest of the forward lines remain the same.
light. Trending. Top 3 key Capitals to watch against Canadiens
Having Phillips on the top line increases the speed. It should get Alex Ovechkin going as he’s looking to dent the twine for the first time this season after going two straight games without a shot on goal for the first time in his career.