The Washington Capitals opened their 2018-2019 season with a pair of back-to-back games, beating the Boston Bruins, 7-0, on Banner Night, and then dropping a 7-6 overtime decision to the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Pens’ home opener. They get to do the back-to-back thing again in the week to come, hosting the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday and heading to New Jersey to face the Devils on Thursday. They will wrap up the week hosting the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday. So, what might we look for in the week to come?
The Opponents
Vegas will be in the midst of a five-game road trip when they visit Washington after opening the season with a 5-2 loss at home to the Philadelphia Flyers. Washington was 0-2-0 against Vegas last season, dropping a 3-0 decision in Las Vegas and losing at home, 4-3. There was that whole Stanley Cup finals thing, though
New Jersey will be playing only their second game of the season when they host the Caps, having beaten the Edmonton Oilers, 5-2, in their season opener on October 6th, the first of a five-game home stand to start the season. The Caps went 3-0-1 against the Devils last season, outscoring them 18-11 over the four games.
Toronto will be wrapping up a four-game road trip when they visit Washington on Saturday, part of a busy early schedule in which they will have played six games in 11 days to open the season. The Capitals swept the two-game season series last year against the Maple Leafs, a 4-2 win in Toronto and a 5-2 win in the outdoors at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis.
After facing two opponents who cleared the 100-point mark last season in Week 1, the Caps will begin and end the week against another pair of 100-plus point clubs from last season in Vegas (109 points/fifth in the league) and Toronto (105/seventh). New Jersey was not far off (97 points).
Hot Caps…
Cold Caps…
Weird Facts…
Potential Milestones In Reach This Week: