Time: 10:30 PM
TV: mnmt
radio: 106.7 Fan/Caps Radio Network
Washington Capitals (15-9-2)
Los Angeles Kings (12-6-7)
The California portion of the Caps’ four-game road trip begins Tuesday night in Los Angeles against the Kings. Tuesday’s tilt concludes the season series between longtime Norris Division rivals; Los Angeles is the first Western Conference club to end its season series with the Caps at 25–26.
Tuesday’s game is also the front end of a back-to-back set for Washington. The Caps fly to San Jose immediately after Tuesday’s game for a Wednesday date with the Sharks. Washington will then return to Southern California to finish the trip in Anaheim on Friday.
Washington’s trip began in Long Island, where the Caps claimed their fourth consecutive win with a 4-1 victory over the Islanders on Sunday afternoon. Logan Thompson made 30 saves and Tom Wilson had three points – including two goals – in a game that was closer than the final count indicated. Half of Washington’s offensive output came in the form of a pair of empty-net goals, one from Aleksi Protas and Alex Ovechkin, respectively, in each of the final two minutes of the game.
Sunday’s game wasn’t the prettiest game the Caps have played this season. But they were opportunists; Wilson’s first goal came a dozen seconds after Washington’s first power play of the game, and it came off a smart and brilliant feed from Ovechkin, whose 12 primary assists – out of a season total of 13 – tops the team.
Wilson’s second goal came in the second period when he put some predictable heat on the Isles at his end of the ice, and New York netminder Ilya Sorokin unwisely tried to slip an outlet feed past him; The Caps winger took the green flag and deposited it into the New York net.
The only Islanders goal of the game came on a rebound during a third period power play. The Caps have taken two of three meetings between the two Metro Division rivals so far, and they have outscored the Isles a combined 6-1 at 5-on-5 in those three contests.
“I honestly didn’t think we made a big jump today,” Caps coach Spencer Carberry says. “I just felt like the speed in the offensive zone and the ability to get out of pressure, (and) the ability to survive second, third, fourth pucks, just wasn’t there. So, we’ll look at that.
“I’m probably going to chalk it up — when you go back through the film — to just our ability to chase pucks, get the second, or third (puck), win some races, whether it’s with our (defensemen) or with the forwards. And then just a little bit of execution; it was a little bit loose with our passing and plays to keep that second and third puck alive where we throw it away or fumble or Let’s overhandle, and now they get a tick on it and now it’s going out of the area.
“I don’t think we were very good in the offensive zone. We had some turnovers, but weren’t up to our standard in that department.”
Grabbing the first game of such a trip, in which Washington plays four games in six nights and takes a six-hour flight to the West Coast immediately after beating the Islanders, is a big step.
“Yeah, it’s huge,” says Thompson. “You definitely don’t want to get behind the eight ball. So it’s huge to get the first two points, and just ride it out and get ready for the next game, because it’s going to get even tougher.”
Sunday’s win allowed the Caps to finish the month of November with a 9-4-2 mark, after a more pedestrian record of 6-5-0 October. There will be 14 more games in December (six at home and eight on the road), and the Capitals will enter the season opener on New Year’s Day in Ottawa.
After arriving in Los Angeles late Sunday night, Capps took a well-needed break on Monday.
In the first meeting between the two teams in districts on November 17, the Caps defeated the Kings by a 2–1 count on a 30-save performance from Charlie Lindgren. Lindgren got the start for former King Matt Roy’s first goal and Ovechkin’s second goal in the win over former Caps goaltender partner Darcy Kuemper, now on his second tour of duty with the Kings.
The loss to the Caps in D.C. was the Kings’ first blemish on the six-game trip, and it came in the fifth game of the trip. Los Angeles finished the trip with a strong 4-1-1 mark, picking up one point after a shootout loss in San Jose. The Kings have earned at least one point from each game, going 2-0-2.
So far on the season, the Kings have played more than 60 minutes in nearly half of their games — 12 of 25 — games. After winning their first shootout decision of the season, they have lost five in a row and are 1–5 in the skills competition. Los Angeles prevailed 4-2 in overtime.
Los Angeles is one of the better road teams in the league (9-2-4), but is only 3-4-3 in its first 10 home games this season. Most recently, the Kings claimed a 2-1 overtime win over the Vancouver Canucks on 19 saves from Anton Forsberg and Adrian Kempe’s OT winner here on Saturday.
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