The Washington Capitals begin the second half of the season with a brief two-game homestand, starting off with the Anaheim Ducks. This is the second and final meeting between the two clubs, with the Capitals taking the first meeting back at Honda Center on No. 30. Tom Wilson scored his first career hat trick in that contest and the Caps would go on to win 5-4.
Washington is coming off a home-and-home split with the New York Rangers.
Here are the projected lines:
Max Pacioretty – Dylan Strome – T.J. Oshie
Hendrix Lapierre – Evgeny Kuznetsov – Tom Wilson
Aliaksei Protas – Connor McMichael – Anthony Mantha
Beck Malenstyn – Nic Dowd – Nicolas Aube-Kubel
Martin Fehervary – John Carlson
Trevor van Riemsdyk – Ethan Bear
Joel Edmundson – Nick Jensen
Charlie Lindgren
Darcy Kuemper
Scratched: Alex Ovechkin (lower), Sonny Milano (upper), Rasmus Sandin (upper), Nicklas Backstrom (hip), Alex Alexeyev, Matthew Phillips
Despite the Caps falling to the Rangers, they played a solid road hockey game, especially considering they were on a back-to-back. The Capitals carried play for the last two periods but once again could not beat Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin.
“We’re doing everything we can to find different ways to score and I thought our process was good tonight. The activity around Shesterkin, I thought the volume of delivery, secondary chances, I thought guys were working to get to the interior,” Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery said following Sunday’s loss. “So I can’t fault the process. We have to continue to work because it’s not easy to win hockey games in the National Hockey League scoring one goal a game.”
The line of Max Pacioretty, Dylan Strome and T.J. Oshie got on the scoreboard for the second consecutive game. Oshie scored his fourth goal of the season and second in as many games. Pacioretty and Strome each had assists on the play and the trio had 12 scoring chances.
The line was put together due to Alex Ovechkin unavailable for the second straight game due to a lower-body injury. It is unclear whether the Capitals captain will be able to suit up against the Ducks.
Washington had a tough time staying out of the penalty box against the Rangers but the penalty kill once again bailed the Caps out, going 5-for-5 against the league’s best power play. The Capitals’ penalty kill is 15th in the NHL at 80.2%.
Charlie Lindgren got back-to-back starts for the first time this season and was once again terrific. He had a highlight-reel glove save in tight on Rangers forward Chris Kreider and ended the game with 29 saves on 31 shots. Lindgren is third in the NHL with a 2.24 goals-against average.
“I obviously played a lot of back-to-backs in college and played a lot of back-to-backs in the American League. So, for me it was nothing really new,” Lindgren said. “I found out shortly after the game last night so I was able to just kind of wrap my head around it and recover that night and get ready for what was a big test today.”
Scouting Anaheim
The Ducks (15-27-1) are coming off a 5-4 overtime win against the Florida Panthers, which was the first of a back-to-back, and are 3-6-1 in their last 10 games.
The Capitals will not have to face Trevor Zegras once again, after he sustained a broken angle back on Jan. 9 against the Nashville Predators. He underwent surgery to repair his ankle and will be out for 6-8 weeks according to the Ducks. Zegras only has seven points (four goals, three assists) in 20 games.
Forward Frank Vatrano is currently on a four-game point streak, with five points (three goals, two assists). Vatrano also leads the Ducks with 33 points (21 goals, 12 assists) in 43 games.
The Ducks are another team that struggles to score goals. They are 29th in the NHL, which is one ranking ahead of Washington, with 2.56 goals per game.
Player To Watch
Forward Adam Henrique has four assists in his last five games.
Puck drop is slated for 7 p.m. at Capital One Arena. The game can be streamed on Monumental Sports Network.
By Jacob Cheris
