Week 25 will almost seem like a week off for the Washington Capitals, who will face two opponents. One an important rival, a bitter rival, a rival that they might face in the first round of the postseason. The other offers a chance for the Caps to perhaps face a familiar foe in goal who was on their radar at the trading deadline with Marc-Andre Fleury the latest addition in goal for the Wild.
The Opponents
Carolina Hurricanes (Monday/7:00pm – Capital One Arena)
The Caps will host the Carolina Hurricanes on Monday night in Washington looking for a sweep of the season series. The Caps won all three previous games against the ‘Canes – 4-2 in Carolina on November 28th, 4-0 in Washington on March 3rd, and 4-3 in a shootout in Carolina in their most recent meeting, on March 18th.
Carolina heads into the new week in a slump, having lost five of their last seven games (2-3-2) and seeing their Metropolitan Division lead stand at three points over the Pittsburgh Penguins and four over the New York Rangers. They did, however, show some signs of breaking out with a 7-2 win over the St. Louis Blues on Saturday in their most recent outing.
The Hurricanes are tied for 24th in the league in points earned (six) and 26th in points percentage (.429) since March 13th, when their seven-game slump started. The problem is a matter of their offense drying up. Even with the seven-goal explosion against the Blues, their 2.86 goals per game over that seven-game stretch is tied for 19th in the league (before that game, it was tied for last in the league). It is the most recent stretch of problems on offense that go back to late February. Over their last 14 games the Hurricanes have only the win over St. Louis as a game in which they scored more than three goals in a game and were shut out twice, once by the Caps and once by the New York Rangers. Over those 14 games, Carolina ranks 28th in scoring offense in the league (2.57 goals per game).
It is rather unfortunate for the Hurricanes, whose defense has been superb over the same stretch of 14 games in which the offense has struggled. Allowing only 2.36 goals per game over that span, they have the best scoring defense in the league over that stretch.
The Caps are 103-55-9 (14 ties) in their all-time series against Carolina, 55-26-5 (four ties) on home ice. They are 8-1-1 in their last ten games against the Hurricanes overall.
Minnesota Wild (Sunday/7:00pm – Capital One Arena)
The Minnesota Wild are having a fine season. Their 40-20-4 record to date is the second-best in franchise history in points percentage (.656), trailing only the 35-16-5/.670 they posted last season. With their 3-2 overtime win over Colorado on Sunday, they hit the 40-win mark for the ninth time in franchise history, and while they trail the Colorado Avalanche by 14 points in the Central Division standings, they are in second place, and finishing there would be their highest divisional finish since finishing second in the Central Division in 2016-2017.
The Wild have come by their success largely through offense, their 3.63 goals per game being the fourth-ranked scoring offense in the league entering the new week. That scoring offense will almost certainly become the most productive in team history, far outpacing the 3.21 goals per game they posted last season. Of 63 games so far this season, the Wild scored four or more goals 32 times, fourth-most in the league.
But the odd part about all those games scoring four or more goals, they have six losses among them (five in regulation, one in extra time), third-most losses in the league when scoring four or more goals. This is a team that can struggle on defense, their 3.09 goals allowed per game being the 19th ranked scoring defense.
One of the problems contributing to their weak scoring defense is a penalty kill that is both inefficient and on the ice too much. Minnesota averages 3.22 shorthanded situations per game, fourth-most in the league. Couple that with a penalty kill that ranks 23rd in the league (76.2 percent), and it is not surprising that the Wild are fifth in most power play goals allowed (49). They have allowed at least one power play goal in 40 games this season, most in the league. It has not been a crippling shortcoming, the 23 wins the Wild have in those 40 games being most in the league when allowing a power play goal (22-14-3). The flip side of the Wild’s special teams problems is their 5-on-5 production. They are a plus-32 in goals for and against at 5-on-5 so far this season, fifth-best in the league.
Washington is 15-9-2 in their all-time series against the Wild, 9-3-0 on home ice. The Caps are 8-1-1 against Minnesota in their last ten meetings 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
Nic Dowd
Garnet Hathaway
Ilya Samsonov
Vitek Vanecek