The Washington Capitals set forth on the 2023 portion of their season with a heavy workload week – four games on tap, two of them against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Three of these games will be played in the friendly confines of Capital One Arena.
The Opponents
Buffalo Sabres (Tuesday/7:00 pm at Capital One Arena)
The Caps open their three-game season series against the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday night. Washington goes into this game with a 14-3-2 record since November 23, tied with the Carolina Hurricanes for most point in the league over that span (30) and third in points percentage (.789). Buffalo is not far behind, going 10-4-2 over that span, tied for 13th in points earned (22) but eighth in points percentage (.688).
The Sabres had a six-game winning streak stopped in a 3-1 loss to the Ottawa Senators on Sunday night. Still, the Sabres have the second best record in the league (6-1-0) since December 13, when the Sabres started their most recent run of success. Their 4.14 goals per game is the second-ranked scoring offense over those seven games (the Caps are at 4.44), and their 2.14 goals allowed per game is the fourth best scoring defense. Their 28.0 percent power play is tied for sixth over that short span, and their 82.6 percent penalty kill is tied for seventh.
The Sabres mauled opponents over the six games preceding the loss to Ottawa, winning three games by three or more goals (one of five teams with a perfect record in such games, including the Caps (5-0 in nine games). Only once in those six games did an opponent hold the Sabres to fewer than four goals (Vegas, in a 3-2 loss on December 19). Three times they scored five or more goals.
This will be the 175th meeting of these teams in the all-time series, the Caps with a 67-85-7 (15 ties) record overall and 35-39-4 (nine ties) on home ice.
Columbus Blue Jackets (Thursday/7:00 pm at Nationwide Arena and Sunday/5:00 pm at Capital One Arena)
The Caps open another season series when they face the Columbus Blue Jackets twice this week. While the Caps have been among the best teams in the league since November 23, Columbus has been among the worst. Going into a contest with the Montreal Canadiens on November 23, the Blue Jackets were 7-10-1. But since then, starting with a 3-1 loss to the Canadiens on November 23, the Blue Jackets are 4-12-1, 31 over that span in points earned (nine) and in points percentage (.265).
Columbus’ scoring has been almost non-existent in those 17 games since November 23, their 2.29 goals scored per game ranked 29th in the league in scoring offense. The scoring defense has been almost as bad, the 3.47 goals allowed per game ranked 23rd in the league over that span. Special teams have been mixed, the power play (17.3 percent) ranked 26th and the penalty kill a top-ten quality group (80.3 percent/T-10th).
Part of the problem for the Blue Jackets has been falling behind in games. In 17 games in this run, they scored first only five times. Only the Chicago Blackhawks scored first fewer times (four). And the flip side of that is that in the 12 games they trailed first, they have a 1-10-1 record. Only four times did they take a lead into the first intermission (3-1-0 record). And, only four times did they take a lead into the third period (4-0-0). They’ve been successful in those instances leading at an intermission, but the occurrences have been rare in this run. And margins hardly matter. Over these 17 games, Columbus is one of only three teams to have a winning percentage under .300 in one-goal, two-goal, and three-or-more-goal decisions (San Jose and Chicago are the others).
The two games against the Blue Jackets will be the 48th and 49th games in the all-time series. Washington is 28-13-5 (one tie) overall, 14-5-3 (one tie) at home and 14-8-2 on the road.
Nashville Predators (Friday/7:00 pm at Capital One Arena)
The Caps will wrap up their two-game season series against the Nashville Predators on Sunday evening in Washington. The Caps won the first meeting, 3-0, in Nashville on October 29. That loss left the Predators 3-5-1, but they turned things around for a time, going 9-4-1 over their next 14 games. But they have stumbled since. Starting with a 5-2 loss in Tampa to the Lightning on December 8, Nashville is 3-5-4 over their last 12 games.
Nashville heads into the new week six points behind Seattle and Edmonton with three teams to climb over to get into the playoff mix. That 3-5-4 record is tied for 21st in points over that span and 25th in points percentage (.417).
The Predators are another team whose poor recent performance is married to their lack of scoring, their 2.58 goals per game over that stretch ranked 26th in the league in scoring offense. Their 3.08 goals allowed per game reflects a more mediocre scoring defense over that 14-game run, 17th in scoring defense in the league going into the new week. Special teams have been a problem. Nashville’s 14.3 percent power play ranks 25th in the league over that stretch, and their 76.9 percent penalty kill ranks 21st.
The odd part about this slump for Nashville is that they scored first in eight of the 12 games (tied for second in games scoring first), but their 3-2-3 record in those games ranks 27th in winning percentage (.375). In the four games in which they trailed first, they are without a win (0-3-1). And, in a league where leading after two periods is almost a guarantee of a win, Nashville is just 2-1-0 in those situations over the last 12 games, 30th in winning percentage (.667).
What has killed the Preds over the last 12 games is their record in extra time. Five times in 12 games they went to an extra frame, losing four times. No team lost more overtime games in that span (tied with Calgary).
The teams will meet for the 35th time in the all-time series this week, the Caps with an overall record of 16-15-2 (one tie) and 9-6-1 at home.
Hot Caps:
Cold Caps:
Weird Facts:
Potential Milestones to Reach This Week (or soon):
John Carlson
Nic Dowd
Matt Irwin
Marcus Johansson
Evgeny Kuznetsov
Sonny Milano
T.J. Oshie
Dmitry Orlov
Alex Ovechkin
Dylan Strome
Trevor van Riemsdyk