Caps/Devils Preview

Washington Capitals (23-28-10, 56 points)
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New Jersey Devils (38-17-6, 82 points)

Television: Comcast SportsNet
Radio: Sportstalk 980-AM
Gametime: 1:00 PM ET

It's the first of a home and home afternoon series this weekend as the Caps travel to the Garden State to take on Martin Brodeur and the Atlantic Division leaders.

Again Washington will face arguably one of the hottest teams in the league at the moment as the Devils are 9-3-1 in 13 games since the All-Star break. They are also 19-4-3 in their last 26 games and 26-8-5 in their last 39. At home this season they have an outstanding mark of 22-6-4. Why did I just throw all of those numbers at you? Because all of this means that the Caps will have to play some of their best hockey if they wish to come out of either contest this weekend with two points.

The Caps bring a 1-12-1 record in their last 14 road games into today's contest. The key will be a good start and hopefully some lucky bounces that can get this team on the board first, giving them the confidence they have surely lacked in recent outings. A repeat opening of their last road game in Montreal, where the Caps took 7 penalties and allowed 3 power play goals in the first period, and they will be in for a long and ugly weekend.

While it's hard to believe given the results this past week, goaltender Brent Johnson has filled in admirably for the injured Olie Kolzig recording a 2.65 goals against average and a .908 save percentage in the last four games.

If nothing else today's game will be another chance for Alex Ovechkin to try and break out of the current funk he is in. He has 0 points in his last 4 games and just 1 goal and 1 assist in his last 9. They will need him to find a way to contribute as the team will be without it's captain and first line right winger Chris Clark for the next 7 to 10 days with a shoulder sprain. In his place, Tomas Fleichmann was recalled from Hershey and should get the opportunity to step right into the Capitals top line. The speedy Czech winger has 20 goals and 27 assists so far this season in 43 games at the AHL level.

Poor Special Teams Play Dooms Caps in Montreal

Capitals Fall For the 7th Straight Time on the Road
Montreal Canadians 5, Washington Capitals 3
Boxscore
(Photo Courtesy of Ian Barrett/AP)

If the Capitals were going to find a way to snap out of their current road funk, this was the game to do it. The Montreal Canadians had lost 4 straight games at home, and found out today that they'll be playing the rest of the regular season without their All-Star goaltender Cristobal Huet.

But that didn't seem to matter tonight, and once again the Caps played an atrocious first period that saw them having to play from behind. They took penalty after penalty and the Canadians made them pay. With the help of 2 goals by Christopher Higgins and 1 goal by Michael Ryder, Montreal converted on 3 of 7 power play opportunities to take a 3-0 lead into the first intermission.

From the second period on the Caps looked like a completely different team. Their hard work shut down the Canadians attack and allowed them to generate an offensive attack for the first time in the game. Just 2:06 into the period, a slap shot from the point by defenseman Jamie Heward was tipped home by Brian Sutherby, past Montreal's rookie goaltender Jaroslav Halak, for his 4th goal of the season. It was Sutherby's first goal since January 9th.

Washington kept the pressure on and with the same lineup still on the ice they scored again 30 seconds later. For the second time Heward ripped a slap shot from the point, this time it was deflected off Maxim Lapierre's stick and through Halak's five hole to get the Caps right back in the game, 3-2.

Late in the period the Capitals special teams let them down again. This time though it was while they were on the power play, as Montreal notched their league leading 16th short handed goal of the season. Michael Ryder tallied his 2nd goal of the game and 19th on the year when he made a nice curl and drag move around Alexander Semin, who was forced into a defensive position because he plays the point with the extra man, and snapped a shot past Brent Johnson. Semin would atone for his defensive mistake on the same power play. He took a pass from Heward in the neutral zone and maneuvered his way up the ice, around defenseman Sheldon Souray, and roofed a shot off of the upper right corner in what was a beautiful one man effort. It was Semin's 31st goal of the season and gave his team some hope heading into the 3rd period as they once again only trailed by one, 4-3.

But the Caps could not get any closer and managed only 4 shots in the final period. A Garth Murray empty netter sealed their fate with 58 seconds to go as the Caps road record fell to 1-12-1 in their last 14 games.

It was a physical game from the start. Multiple scrums ensued after the whistles as Canadians' captain Saku Koivu was involved throughout the night. In the first period he and Milan Jurcina had a shoving match behind the Capitals net. Later in the third period Koivu and Matt Pettinger were both handed matching roughing minors after exchanging blows.

During the course of the game two Caps players left the ice with blood dripping from their face. Alexander Perezhogin elbowed Shoane Morrisonn in the first period and Matt Bradley was hit with a high stick by Christopher Higgins before a faceoff in the third period. Each player returned to action after receiving some medical care and their attackers were both given double minors for drawing blood.

The Caps will have a short time to recover from this game as they will host the San Jose Sharks Wednesday night at the Verizon Center. The team announced that all upper deck tickets can be purchased for 50% off of the normal price for this game only. The offer is limited to the first 500 orders.

Game Notes:

Kris Beech, Ben Clymer, and Steve Eminger were again the healthy scratches.... The Caps could only muster 18 shots on Halak as he won his second consecutive start of his NHL career.... Jamie Heward was originally credited with two goals on the night, but his first goal was later awarded to Sutherby. He would've had the fastest two goals in Capitals history for a defenseman.... Alex Ovechkin was shut out again and now has just 1 goal and 1 assist in his last 8 games.

Caps/Canadians Preview

Washington Capitals (23-27-9, 55 points)
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Montreal Canadians (30-25-6, 66 points)

Television: Comcast SportsNet
Radio: WTNT 570-AM
Gametime: 7:30 PM ET


It's a tale of two teams who are limping their way into Tuesday night's game. As much as the Capitals have been struggling lately, there's a team that just may be hurting even more right now.

The Montreal Canadians recently snapped a six game losing streak with a 3-2 win in Columbus on Sunday. It was their first road win since January 18th when they defeated the Thrashers in Atlanta 4-1. They are a team that in the middle of December was battling the Buffalo Sabres for the Northeast Division lead. Since then, they have gone into a complete tailspin. After defeating the Caps at the Verizon Center on December 27th, they have compiled a record of 8-16-1 and now find themselves clinging to their playoff lives. Entering tonight's game, they are in a three-way tie for the eighth and final playoff spot with the Toronto Maple Leafs and the New York Islanders, who ended the Penguins 16 regulation unbeaten streak yesterday.

They have also recently lost their All-Star goaltender Cristobal Huet who will have surgery on his injured left hamstring. With backup David Aebischer failing to adequately fill in, the Canadians hopes now rest on the shoulders of rookie Jaroslav Halak who was an AHL All-Star this season. He had a 2.00 goals against average, along with a .932 save percentage in 28 games with the Hamilton Bulldogs.

The Caps have their own problems heading into tonight's game. They are riding a 1-11-1 streak in their last 13 road games. While their defensive play has improved as of late, their offense has completely disappeared. Since their 7-3 win against Carolina on January 27th, they have averaged just 2.11 goals a game over the last 9 contests. Alex Ovechkin is in the middle of the biggest slump of his short career, recording just 1 goal and 1 assist in his last 7 games. The Caps could sure use a breakthrough performance from him to spark their offense.

Their could be a feel good story tonight. Backup Frederic Cassivi should get his first NHL start of the season in his return to his native Quebec. The 31-year old Cassivi was called up last week after Kolzig suffered a left knee injury in practice. He was an essential part of the Hershey Bears Calder Cup Championship run last season, and had a 15-7-4 record this year at the time of his recall.

With a little magic from Cassivi, and a little offense from Ovechkin, hopefully the Caps can get a W against a struggling Montreal team.