Top 3 keys to victory for the Capitals against Blue Jackets
The Washington Capitals take on the Columbus Blue Jackets tonight at Capital One Arena. The Caps defeated the Blue Jackets 2-1 on Nov. 4 behind a 26 save performance from Darcy Kuemper along with goals from Tom Wilson and Sonny Milano.
The Capitals are 32-13-1-6 all time against Columbus and 8-1-1 in their last 10 games against the Blue Jackets. Last season the Caps won the season series against the Blue Jackets 3-0-1.
Here are the top 3 keys to victory for the Caps:
#3 Stay hot Chuck!
Charlie Lindgren has been a stud in this Capitals turnaround. The other night against the Vegas Golden Knights on Nov. 4 he made 35 saves, stopping every shot he faced. It was his first shutout as a member of the Caps and the third of his career.
Lindgren told Tarik El-Bashir of Monumental Sports Network after Wednesday’s practice:
“There’s positive momentum. I’ve strung together a couple of good games in a row. Honestly, I’ve liked all four of my games this year. So that obviously helps when you’re feeling confident and good about yourself.”
He also said earlier in that same article that he sees the puck super well and that it looks like a beach ball right now. Now that’s confidence you want in your goalie.
#2 Wake up power play
So far this season the Caps power play is 3 for 41 with the man advantage. That’s BAD in all Caps. It’s ranked 31st in the NHL, aka the second worst. That’s a power play percentage of just 7.3 percent.
Among those three goals two of them have been scored by Dylan Strome with the other being Alex Ovechkin.
There’s no indication on what the power play will look like tonight since today’s morning skate was an optional but here’s what it has looked like recently.
PP1: Tom Wilson, Connor McMichael, Matthew Phillips, Alex Ovechkin, John Carlson
PP2: T.J. Oshie, Dylan Strome, Sonny Milano, Alex Ovechkin, Rasmus Sandin
If you read yesterday’s article, you saw me say how I would tweak it. Here’s a refresher on that.
I would take Ovechkin off one of the power plays but not off the power play entirely. He leads the NHL in all time power play goals so there’s no need to break a record in that category since he already owns it. Have him play on either the first or second unit to give him some time to rest since he’s not getting any younger.
I would also try to add another young buck to the power play such as Beck Malenstyn.
#1 Shut them down
The Caps defense and goaltending has been a big part of their turnaround. Their 3-0 win on Nov. 14 over the Vegas Golden Knights marked their first shutout of the season. The Caps have outscored the opposition 11-3 over their last three games and have allowed 37 goals against through 14 games this season which is the third fewest in the NHL. That’s an average of 2.64 goals against per game.
The Caps blocked a season high 32 shots in their 4-1 win over the New York Islanders on Nov. 11 which marked their highest single game total since Feb. 4, 2016 which was 33 blocked shots also against the Islanders.
This season the Capitals rank sixth in goals against per game with 2.64. They also rank 12th in penalty kill percentage at 83.3 percent and tied for 12th in blocked shots with 259 through games played Nov. 16.
Their penalty kill has also dramatically improved. After starting the season 15 for 22 with a success rate of 68.2 percent, the Caps have killed off 20 straight opposing power play opportunities over their last nine games. During the nine game stretch, the Capitals have been shorthanded a league low 18 times and have taken the fewest penalties in the NHL with 23.
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Those are the top 3 keys to victory. Puck drop is at 7:30 p.m. on Monumental Sports Network.