With a 5-1-1 record in their last seven games and a 5-1-1 mark in their seven home games so far this month, the Caps are looking to end this stretch on a high before taking the field for a week and a half for the next four games. The Caps depart tomorrow for a daunting trip in which they will play on Long Island on Sunday afternoon, fly cross country to Los Angeles immediately afterward, play three games in four nights in Golden State, and fly straight back home next Saturday for a Sunday home date with Columbus. Wow!
But first things first, and it’s today’s game with the Leafs, who got healthy enough for the opener of their own five-game road run on Wednesday in Columbus. With Auston Matthews, Mathieu Nize and Nicolas Roy all coming off injured reserve for that game, the Leafs won a 2–1 overtime decision over the Jackets, thanks to Willie Nylander’s 15th career overtime game-winner, the most in Toronto’s franchise history.
Wednesday’s win was the second in eight road games for the Leafs (2-6-0), who have played 15 of their first 22 games of the season on home ice. After going 5-5-1 in October, Toronto is 5-5-2 in November with two games remaining on the slate this month; Leafs complete a set of back-to-back games
“I think it’s hard to evaluate (the Leafs) just based on injuries,” says Caps coach Spencer Carberry, a former Toronto assistant coach. “In this case it’s Auston, and Matty Knies, even (defenseman) Brandon Carlo, and (goaltender Anthony) Stolarz.
“But having those guys back in the lineup — especially (Matthews) and Nese — those guys are big-time players. It gives them almost a completely different line that you have to be extremely aware of, one that can do a lot of damage and is the top line in the league.”
In the midst of all this – Despite playing their last five games without centers PL Dubois and Nick Dowd – their top two defensive pivots – the Caps have won four of those five games. The emergence of rookie Justin Sourdiff has been a factor in that success, and in Wednesday’s 4-3 win over Winnipeg, Connor McMichael helped the Caps earn some points in what, to these eyes anyway, is one of the best games he’s played at the position.
“I think so, too,” says McMichael. “It was definitely one of my better games that year. I think I was able to use my speed through the middle, and I think that’s something the Carbs wanted me to show more, carrying matches through the middle of the ice and using my speed. And I thought I was able to do that.
“And another thing I loved was the face-offs. I think I was going against (Jonathan) Toews most of the night, and he’s a really good face-off guy. And I was able to win most of them, which I thought was really good. And I found that when I’m playing center and I focus on the defensive things first, the offensive things fall into place. And I thought it just happened that way.”
That’s exactly how it happened, and McMichael was able to score the game-winning goal early in the third period. Realizing that Jets blueliner Elias Salomonsson – who was playing his first NHL game – did not have strong control over the wobbly puck near the Winnipeg line, McMichael stripped him and used his speed to single-handedly barrel past Jets goaltender Eric Comrie. After a deke and backhander, the Caps had a 4–2 lead.
Despite the game-winning goal, McMichael was solid in all three areas, his pace was noticeable, and as he noted, he came out ahead on the dots, winning nine of 16 draws (56 percent). He also averaged 21:04 of ice time, less than a minute shy of his single-game career best, set almost a year ago today.
Notably, Carberry also thought it was a solid performance for McMichael.
“I thought he had a good jump last game (Monday vs. Columbus),” Carberry says. “He was just forcing some plays and trying to beat guys in weak spots, and he wasn’t able to make plays. But tonight, I thought he was good. I agree with that, and it’s a big goal, not only to get us down by two in the moment of the game, but for him in general, to finish on a breakaway in that situation — him and the goaltender — was a great goal for him and big goal in a hockey game.”
Last season, the trio of Dubois, Dowd and Lars Eller – now with Ottawa – combined for 1,394 of Washington’s 1,661 defensive zone face-offs on the season, representing 84 per cent of the Caps’ total. This season, Dowd and Dubois have accounted for only 41.43 percent of the team’s defensive zone draws so far, with McMichael’s total of 104 ranking second on the team behind Dowd’s 149.
Playing mostly on the wing last season, McMichael split 30 defensive zone draws, winning 15 of them. This season, he has dropped to 43.3 percent on those draws. After some video work, some conversations with Dowd and Dylan Strome and some practice work, McMichael will be able to improve in that regard. Consistently displaying his speed while playing in the middle of the ice is another priority.
“Sometimes I feel like when I was playing wing, I would get pucks in more offensive spots,” McMichael says. “And I feel like when I’m playing in the middle of the ice, I’m very low in our defensive zone, so it’s hard to beat everybody with my speed from that low in the zone and make it all the way up the ice.
“For me, it’s just getting used to my routes again. I think finding small pockets, and I think Stromer is really good at this – finding pockets up in the zone – and being able to find small pockets like that is something I really want to work on. And I think when I do that, I’ll be able to use my speed a little bit more, I’ll be able to get the puck over their low forwards. “I’ll go and be able to dictate the game that way.”
McMichael began the season playing center, but his offensive game was not as popular as the previous season, when he set career highs with 26 goals, 31 assists and 57 points. Around the middle of the month, Carberry moved him back to the wing. But with Dowd out the last five games and Dubois out since Halloween night — and expected to be out until the end of the calendar — McMichael is back in the middle.
His offensive game saw improvement when he was moved to the wing, but he has remained productive since moving back to the centre. Overall, after starting with four points (one goal, three assists) in his first 16 games, he has eight points (two goals, six assists) in his last seven games.
Dubois had such a stellar season in 2024-25 that he neutralized an opponent’s top line on a nightly basis, while allowing nearly one goal in an even-strength game in the process. Such players are rare, and Carberry has said that a committee will be needed to accomplish this. With McMichael and Sourdiff handling the bulk of those duties for now, the Caps have been successful so far in mitigating the absence of those two experienced centers.
“I think the Swords have worked really hard since Doobie was out,” says McMichael. “It’s really fun to see what he’s doing, shutting down his other teams’ top lines and also producing offensively. It’s been pretty impressive.
“And yes, for me, I want to do the same thing, even though my line isn’t against their top line. I still want to be able to be a guy that they rely on for PK defensive zone draws, and I thought I’ve done a pretty good job so far, but I think I still have a lot of room to improve. And it’s hard to replace a guy like Dubi, who is getting the Selke votes. It’s a tough job, but I think the Swords have done that.” It’s a good job that really worked.”
While playing on the left wing last season, McMichael spent a lot of time on the portside of Dubois’ line, so he learned a thing or two about playing through the middle in those 82 games.
“Even last year, when I was playing wing, Doobie helped my offensive game a lot,” McMichael says. “He gave me a lot of good tips. And I think he’s such a smart player that he was giving me a lot of different things that I never thought about before, and now this year, playing in the middle is definitely helping me, and I see all the things that Dubee did so well last year, and I’m trying to implement it into my game.”
In the nets – Two nights after Charlie Lindgren picked up his third straight win in a 4-3 win over the Jets, Logan Thompson is back for the Capitals against Toronto, aiming for his 10th win of the season.
With 40 wins since the start of last season, Thompson is fifth among all NHL goaltenders over that span. This season, his .897 high danger save PCT. According to Natural Stat Trick, 5-on-5 is second in the NHL. Lifetime against the Maple Leafs, Thompson is 3-1-1 in five games (four starts), with a 2.89 GAA and .905 save PCT.
Joseph Woll is the starter for Toronto this afternoon. After winning a career-high 27 games last season, Vol began the season on injured reserve due to a lower body injury. He made his season debut on November 15 at Chicago, four days after Anthony Stolarz was sidelined with an upper body injury. In five games since coming off the IR, Vol is 2-2-1 with a 2.74 GAA and a .921 save PCT.
Tonight, he makes his sixth consecutive start since coming off the IR. Lifetime against Washington, the Vols are a perfect 4-0-0 in four games – all starts – with a 1.98 GAA and .927 save PCT.
All down the line – Here’s how the Capitals and Leafs could look in D.C. on Friday afternoon:
Washington
Ahead
72-Beauvillier, 17-Strome, 8-Ovechkin
21-Protas, 34-Sourdiff, 43-Wilson
22-Duhaime, 24-McMichael, 9-Leonard
15-Milano, 29-Lapierre, 53-Français
defenseman
42-Fehrveri, 74-Carlson
6-chikrun, 3-roy
38-Sandin, 57-van Riemsdyk
goaltender
79-Lindgren
48-Thompson
healthy extra
47-Chisholm
52-McIlrath
87-Trineyev
injured/out
26-Doud (Upper Body)
80-Dubois (lower body)
toronto
Ahead
23-Nese, 34-Matthews, 11-Domi
53-Cowan, 91-Tavares, 88-Nylander
89-Robertson, 55-Roy, 74-McMann
18-Lorentz, 24-Laughton, 19-Jernkrok
defenseman
44-Reilly, 95-Ekman-Larsen
2-Benoit, 22-McCabe
36-Mermis, 28-Stature
goalkeeper
60-volt
35-Hildeby
healthy extra
51-Myers
63-McSelli
81-Joshua
injured/out
8-Tanev (upper body)
25-Carlo (Lower Body)
41-Stolarz (Upper Body)
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