The Washington Capitals return from a successful three-game road trip in Week 22 to face a four-game week in Week 23 that will give a Capital another chance to reach a career milestone in front of a former coach, face a pair of division rivals in back-to-back road games, and wrap it up with a late afternoon date at home to face visitors from Big D.
The Opponents
New York Islanders (Tuesday/7:00pm – Capital One Arena)
Alex Ovechkin did not break his tie with Jaromir Jagr for third place on the all-time list of NHL goal scorers when he faced former coach Bruce Boudreau on Friday night, but he gets another shot at a former coach on home ice when Barry Trotz’ New York Islanders come to town for the first time this season. Trotz has just set a record of his own, becoming only the third coach in NHL history to reach the 900-win mark, adding his name to those of Scotty Bowman (1,244 wins) and Joel Quenneville (969 wins) in the 900-win club. He hit the 900-win mark when the Islanders defeated the Winnipeg Jets, 5-2, on home ice on Friday night. Unfortunately for Trotz, he also happens to rank second all-time in regulation losses (659), trailing only Paul Maurice (681).
Of particular importance to the Islanders, the win over Winnipeg was their second win in a row, the first time they put together consecutive wins in almost two months, not since winning three in a row, January 17-21. New York made it three in a row with a 4-3 win over Anaheim on Sunday.
Since that three-game winning streak in January, and even with their current three-game winning streak, the Islanders have been stuck in neutral, going 10-11-2, 19th in points earned (22) and 20th in points percentage (.478). It has been a considerable stretch of mediocrity at both ends of the ice over this stretch of games, the Isles ranking 16th in scoring offense (3.17 goals per game) and 14th in scoring defense (2.91 goals allowed per game). The uninspired production extends to the power play, where the Isles rank 14th (22.8 percent). Their penalty kill has been good, though, ranking fifth over this stretch at 85.1 percent.
But what those overall numbers mask over the last 22 games is a team that struggles quite a bit on the road. Since January 22nd, when their slide began, New York has a 3-5-1 record on the road, 27th in points earned (seven) and 27th in points percentage (.389). They have had problems keeping pucks out of their own net on the road over this period, allowing 3.56 goals per game, the 23rd-ranked scoring defense over those nine road games. Both sides of special teams have also been a problem over this stretch, the Isles ranking 30th on power plays (10.0 percent) and 21st on penalty kills (75.0 percent) on the road. They head into the new week on a six-game streak without a power play goal on the road (0-for-13), and their penalty kill has allowed goals in four of the nine games, all of them in losses (0-3-1).
The Caps hold a 118-94-6 (13 ties) edge in the all-time series against the Islanders, 60-41-3 (11 ties) on home ice. Washington is 7-3-0 in their last ten games against the Islanders overall and bring a four-game winning streak against the New Yorkers into this game.
Columbus Blue Jackets (Thursday/7:00pm – Nationwide Arena)
The 2022 portion of the season for the Columbus Blue Jackets has been one to make even the sturdiest person a victim of motion sickness. The started the new year with a 3-8-0 record in their first 11 games through January 26th. Over their next 11 games they went 9-2-0, but they gave a lot of that progress back with a 3-4-2 record over their last nine games heading into Week 23.
Over that last nine-game stretch since February 25th, the Blue Jackets are tied for 18th in points (eight) and 25th in points percentage (.444).
There is little mystery about what drives Columbus’ record since January 1st. Over those first 11 games of the new year, they scored just 2.36 goals per game, 28th in the league in scoring offense as they went 3-8-0. Over their next 11 games, they averaged 4.73 goals per game, tops in the league while putting together a 9-2-0 record. Since then, over their last nine games, they averaged 2.78 goals per game, 23rd in the league in scoring offense as they assembled a 3-4-2 record.
That up and down performance on offense contrasts sharply with the Columbus defense, which has been uniformly awful in the new year. Overall, their 3.97 goals allowed per game ranks 30th in scoring offense, but break it down into those same three segments. In their first 11 games of the new year, the Blue Jackets allowed 4.27 goals per game, 31st in the league in scoring defense as they went 3-8-0. They followed that up with some improvement, to 3.73 goals allowed per game, but still 26th in the league over that span in scoring defense. Fortunate for the Blue Jackets that over that stretch they could out-score their woeful defense by a full goal per game (4.73) in going 9-2-0. In their last nine games, Columbus has allowed 3.89 goals per game, 28th in the league in scoring defense over that stretch.
Specific to this game, the Blue Jackets have performed poorly on home ice since the first of the year. Their 7-9-2 home record is tied for 13th in points, 23rd in points percentage (.444). And that scoring defense – 4.22 goals allowed per game at Nationwide Arena, 31st in the league in scoring defense on home ice since January 1st. Six times in those 18 games on home ice they allowed five or more goals (not including shootouts).
Washington is 27-13-5 (one tie) in their all-time series against Columbus, 13-8-2 on the road. The Caps are 4-5-1 in their last ten games overall against the Blue Jackets.
Carolina Hurricanes (Friday/7:00pm – PNC Arena)
The Hurricanes just keep spinning along. Yes, Carolina was shut out by the Caps, 4-0, back on March 3rd, but that was their only loss in regulation in a month, since they dropped a 3-2 decision to the Minnesota Wild on February 12th, until they lost in Pittsburgh to the Penguins, 4-2, on Sunday. Since then, the ‘Canes are 8-2-2 in 12 games and hold a healthy six-point lead, with a game in hand, over Pittsburgh for the Metropolitan Division lead.
Carolina has been the embodiment of the idea that it isn’t “a” loss that is a problem, it is the accumulation of them in a short amount of time that can be a problem. Only once this season have the Hurricanes lost consecutive games in regulation, a three-game streak of such losses in late November. That also represents the only time this season that the Hurricanes lost more than two in a row, regardless of whether the losses came in regulation or in extra time. Carolina doesn’t do slumps, at least not so far this season.
What has been truly amazing about Carolina this season is their record at home. They started the season well at PNC Arena, going 6-3-0 in their first nine home games. That would be the closest they came to a “slump” at home. Since that start, the Hurricanes are 17-1-2 at home, the lone loss in regulation coming on January 13th, a 6-0 loss to Columbus. That record matches the Colorado Avalanche precisely at the top of the home ice standings since December 4th, when Carolina’s run began.
Over those most recent 20 games at PNC Arena, Carolina’s offense has been good, averaging 3.55 goals per game (eighth in scoring offense at home), but their defense has been nothing short of superb. Theirs is the second-best scoring defense (2.00 goals allowed per game) over that stretch on home ice, and their penalty kill ranks second at 93.6 percent (Calgary is at 96.3 percent on home ice over the same period).
And, they have not just beaten opponents, they have beaten them badly over this 20-game run. Eight times in those 20 home games, the result was a decision by three or more goals, and Carolina won seven of them, tied for third in wins by three or more goals and tied for fewest instances of losses by three or more goals. They win close, too, going 6-0-2 in one-goal decisions over the same period on home ice.
The Capitals are 102-55-9 (14 ties) in their all-time series against Carolina, including games played against the Hurricane’s in their previous life as the Hartford Whalers, 47-29-4 (ten ties) on the road. Washington is 8-1-1 against Carolina in their last ten meetings overall and bring a four-game winning streak against the ‘Canes into this game.
Dallas Stars (Sunday/5:00pm – Capital One Arena)
Washington returns home to close the week against the Dallas Stars, wrapping up their season series after the Caps beat the Stars in Big D, 5-0, on January 28th at the expense of former Caps goalie Braden Holtby, who allowed all five goals on 27 shots in 40 minutes of work.
At the moment, Dallas is one point behind the Vegas Golden Knights for the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference, but with four games in hand.
The loss to the Caps notwithstanding, Dallas has had a fine 21-game run, going 14-6-1 since January 20th, tied for seventh over that span in points earned (29) and tied for fifth in points percentage (.690). Their success has been largely due to defense, allowing only 2.71 goals per game over that period, sixth-best scoring defense in the league. It is a bit odd that their performance on defense should be as good as it is over this period, given that they allowed 31.3 shots per game (14th fewest) and 972 shot attempts-against at 5-on-5 (12th-most), with their minus-49 differential in shot attempts at fives ranking 18th in the league over that period.
One thing that has helped their defense is their avoidance of shorthanded situations. Over their last 21 games, Dallas has been shorthanded an average of 2.62 times per game, sixth-fewest in the league. It means that while their 81.8 percent penalty kill is good (eighth-best in the league over that stretch), the ten power play goals allowed are tied for sixth-fewest in the league over that span. Their 5-on-5 scoring defense has been good as well, allowing only 40 5-on-5 goals in their last 21 games, tied for ninth-fewest in the league over that period.
It is this defense that has allowed to Stars to flourish over their last 21 games despite a middle-of-the-road offense that averaged 3.19 goals per game (15th in scoring offense) and power play (22.4 percent/16th). They have awakened of late, though, scoring four or more goals in five of their last six games.
Washington is 34-48-4 (16 ties) in their all-time series against Dallas, including their previous incarnation as the Minnesota North Stars, 17-22-3 (eight ties) on home ice. The Caps are 5-2-3 in their last ten games against Dallas overall.
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
Nic Dowd
Garnet Hathaway