The Washington Capitals take to the road in Week 19 with games against the Nashville Predators and Philadelphia Flyers, two of the more difficult places for opponents to play.
The Opponents
Nashville Predators (Tuesday/8:00 (Eastern) — Bridgestone Arena)
On January 11th, the Predators beat the Colorado Avalanche in overtime, 5-4, to push their record to 24-11-2, tying them with the Carolina Hurricanes for third-most standings points in the league (50). They had the league’s fourth-best power play (27.0 percent) and its seventh-best penalty kill (82.5 percent). While their scoring offense was respectable (3.14 goals per game/12th in the league), their scoring defense was very good (2.65 goals allowed per game/eighth in the league).
Since then, though, it has been a struggle for the Preds. In 11 games since January 12th, the Predators are 4-5-2, their 10 standings points tied for 26th in the league, while their .455 points percentage ranks 25th. While their scoring offense slipped over that span, to 2.91 goals per game (tied for 16th in the league) over that span, their scoring defense might be more of a concern (3.09 goals allowed per game/17th).
Special teams have slipped over that span as well, the power play converting 17.1 percent of their opportunities over those 11 games (27th) and their penalty kill running at 75.6 percent (21st) over the same span.
Nashville has not been a particularly fearsome team on home ice, either this season or in historical context. Their 14-8-0 record at Bridgestone Arena is tied for 16th in points earned (28, with Los Angeles), and their .636 points percentage ranks 12th in the league. That points percentage ranks 11th in 23 seasons of home ice play for the Predators. And although their overall home ice scoring defense has been good (2.41 goals allowed per game/tied for sixth-best in the league), it has faltered of late, allowing 21 goals in their last seven games on home ice (3.00 per game).
The Capitals are 14-15-2 (one tie) in their all-time series against the Predators, 5-9-1 (one tie) in Nashville. Washington is 2-7-1 in their last ten meetings with the Preds overall.
Philadelphia Flyers (Thursday/7:00pm – Wells Fargo Center)
It has been a rough year for the Flyers and their fans. It is not an overstatement to say that this year’s Flyers club is an historically poor club. In its 54th season of hockey, this year’s club ranks 51st in points percentage (15-24-8/.404). They rank 52nd in scoring offense (2.51 goals per game), 43rd in scoring defense (3.36 goals allowed per game). In 44 seasons in which special teams data are available, this year’s club ranks 40th on the power play (14.8 percent) and 40th on the penalty kill (77.0 percent). They are tied for 42nd in winning percentage when scoring first in games (12-3-5/.600), 52nd in winning percentage when trailing in games (3-21-3/.111).
What is worse, at least this season, is the Flyers home record. This is the second-worst team in Flyer history in points percentage on home ice (8-11-4/.435), and only once this season have they won consecutive games in regulation at Wells Fargo Arena. That was back in October, when they beat Seattle, 6-1, and followed that up with a 6-3 win over Boston. They are 4-9-3 at home since opening their home schedule with a 4-2-1 record.
It is not as if the Flyers have had one sore spot to account for their troubles overall. They have been bad on both sides of the puck and on special teams – a bottom third team in scoring offense (2.51 goals per game/27th), scoring defense (3.36 goals allowed per game/25th), power play (14.8 percent/30th), and penalty kill (77.0 percent/23rd).
Philadelphia’s offensive woes have been persistent. They have not scored more than three goals in regulation in any game since December 14th, when they beat New Jersey, 6-1. That is 20 games in a row going into the new week. On the other side, they allowed more the three goals in regulation eight times in their last 16 games. Six times in those 16 games they lost by three or more goals.
The Caps are 93-109-11 (19 ties) in their all-time series against the Flyers, 42-63-7 (six ties) in Philadelphia. They are 6-4-0 against the Flyers in their last ten meetings.
Hot Caps:
Cold Caps:
Weird Facts:
Potential Milestones to Reach This Week (or soon):
Alex Ovechkin
Nicklas Backstrom
John Carlson
Dmitry Orlov
Evgeny Kuznetsov
Tom Wilson
T.J. Oshie
Nick Jensen