The Washington Capitals host the Ottawa Senators tonight at Capital One Arena. You can catch the game at 7 p.m. on Monumental Sports Network or 106.7 The Fan. For those outside the DMV, Caps Radio 24/7 is your go to.
No idea what the lines are but it looks like a regular morning skate at MedStar this morning so let's cut to the chase anyway on our 3 keys to a Capitals dub.
#3 Score more goals
Well, duh. Of course they got to score more goals than the other team. But as we know it's been much harder than it looks. Although the Senators are lower than the Caps in the standings by an eight point margin, the Sens average 3.35 goals per game which is eighth in the entire NHL. The Caps meanwhile average 2.52 which puts them at 30th in the league. Whoever gets the net tonight HAS to be on their A game and so does the blue line.
#2 Defense
Defense wins championships that's the old saying. But defense also wins hockey games. Whoever is in the lineup tonight has to play lock down defense to help out Darcy Kuemper or Charlie Lindgren. Note this was written before morning skate so your guess on who's in goal is as good as mine right now.
The Caps last three games saw them allow just one power play goal on eight opportunities and of course the one power play goal was allowed to the Florida Small Cats but those small cats have a big power play attack. Overall the Caps are middle of the pack in the penalty kill percentage with an 80.1 percent success rate.
#1 Have fun
Cut out the noise and just have fun. There's going to be rally towels for ALLCAPS fans who are in attendance. Wave those proudly becuase the players want another Stanley Cup and I mean the real one.