Three wins in three games in Week 11. That will be a hard thing to match for the Washington Capitals in Week 12. Add to that the fact that the Caps have to host a rivalry game against the Pittsburgh Penguins to open the week, get a rematch against a Buffalo Sabres team they beat in a shootout to end Week 11, and then they go on the road to face the Ottawa Senators the next night to close the week, and it will be a challenge to extend their five-game winning streak.
The Opponents
Each of the three teams that the Caps face this week pose their own challenge. A team on the rise, a team with revenge on its mind, and one that has suddenly turned stingy on home ice.
Pittsburgh Penguins (15-11-6 entering the week). No game between these rivals is “just another game,” whether it is in the spring or on a cold winter weeknight in the holiday season. However, the Caps will be facing a team that has had some uncommon struggles this season. When the Penguins face the Anaheim Ducks on Monday night before visiting Washington, they will be trying to do something they have not done over their previous 23 games dating back to late October – win a third consecutive game.
Since Pittsburgh won four straight in late October, the Penguins are an uncharacteristic 9-9-4. They have been better of late, with a 7-3-1 record over their last 11 games, but they remain a team that has struggled away from home. Their 6-5-4 road record enters Week 12 as the 19th-ranked road record in the league, and they are just 2-5-3 in their last ten road games, one of the two wins coming in regulation and the other in shootout. Three times in those 11 games the Pens allowed six goals, five times they allowed two or fewer. Defense has been an all or nothing adventure on the road, but they did welcome back goalie Matt Murray, who returned to the lineup on Saturday (38 saves in a 4-3 win over the Los Angeles Kings) after missing 13 games with a lower body injury.
Buffalo Sabres (19-9-5). The Sabres might be showing signs of regression to their talent and experience level. After opening the season with a 17-6-2 record, Buffalo is 3-3-3 in their last nine games heading into Week 12, including a 4-3 shootout loss to the Caps on Saturday, their first shootout loss of the season. The Sabres have had a very consistent offense recently, averaging 2.83 goals per game over their last 12 contests and scoring precisely three goals five times in that span. The odd part of their record to date, as we noted in passing last week in this space, is the volume of extra time games this team has played. Of the 34 games played going into the week, 13 ended in extra time for the Sabres, and extra time has been kind to them with an 8-5 record. Buffalo does continue to struggle on the road, though, their shootout loss to the Caps on Saturday being their fourth straight away from upstate New York (0-2-2). Buffalo did end that losing streak when they defeated the Boston Bruins on Sunday, but it is still a team that struggles on the road, particularly with respect to scoring. After that 4-2 win in Boston on Sunday, the Sabres averaged only 2.78 goals per game in their last nine road contests.
Ottawa Senators (14-16-4). Team Chaos hosts the Caps in what will be the last game for Washington before the Christmas holiday. Here is a team that traded its best player in September rather than almost certainly losing him to free agency for nothing next summer (and might have done so well below market to boot), couldn’t stop opponents from scoring to start this season (21 goals allowed in their first four games, three times in their first 21 games allowing seven or more goals, 13 games with five or more goals allowed to date), got into a spat with local government over a new arena, and whose ownership seems to have an uneasy relationship with its fan base. Did we mention that the Senators got lit up for four unanswered goals in the third period to drop a 5-2 decision to the Montreal Canadiens to close out last week? That this team wins at all might be remarkable. But after dropping four in a row in late November, the Senators are 5-4-1 in ten games going into Week 12. That kind of respectability, even over a ten-game stretch, might be something on which to build, although before anyone gets too giddy, that record does include losses in five of their last seven games (2-4-1). One thing to watch for is whether the Senators can break a cold scoring spell on home ice. They have only five goals in their last three games at Canadian Tire Center. On the other hand, this is a team that has allowed only ten goals over their last five home games.
Hot Caps…
Cold Caps…
Weird Facts…
Potential Milestones to Reach This Week…