Jan. 23 vs. Seattle Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena
Time: 10:00 p.m.
TV: MNMT
Radio: 106.7 THE FAN, Caps Radio 24/7
Washington Capitals (32-10-5)
Seattle Kraken (21-24-3)
Washington’s five-game road trip continues on Thursday night when it visits Seattle to take on the Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena. The Caps carry a five-game winning streak into Thursday’s game, matching their longest streak of the season. Washington also owns an 11-game point streak (8-0-3) as it prepares to take on the Kraken.
On Tuesday night in Edmonton, the Caps started their longest road trip of the season in James Brown fashion, on the good foot. Logan Thompson stopped 30 of 32 shots to win his 10th consecutive start, improving to 22-2-3 on the season. P-L Dubois had a goal and an assist, and linemate Tom Wilson scored his 20th goal of the season, reaching that plateau for the fourth time in his NHL career, and the first time since 2021-22.
“You can’t take it for granted in this League, scoring goals,” says Wilson of joining Alex Ovechkin as the second Capital to score 20 goals this season. “It’s a huge privilege. Scoring 20 is always a goal, and something that – coming into this League – I wanted to be able to do at least a couple of times. I’m playing with a lot of really good players right now, and this year they’re just finding me in really good spots, and I’m making them count. We’ll take them when they come.”
Despite being limited to just 14 shots on net, Washington scored three goals against Edmonton’s Stuart Skinner. It marks just the 12th time in franchise history – and the second time since 2011 – that the Capitals won a game in which they were limited to 15 or fewer shots on net.
In limiting the Oilers to two goals in Tuesday’s tilt, the Caps moved into the top spot in the NHL in goals against per game, at 2.43 per contest. Washington has yielded just eight goals in its last seven games.
Washington’s top six defense corps and its goaltending have driven the team’s current 11-game point streak; the Caps have allowed just a dozen goals at 5-on-5 over the life of the streak. All six blueliners have reached the double-digit point level on the season, all are averaging better than 17 and a half minutes of ice time nightly, and all are plus-8 or better on the season. Not only is the group balanced in terms of left and right shots, they’re capable of smoothly shifting to a different partner when needed, and none of them require any situational sheltering.
“I agree with that,” says Caps defenseman John Carlson, the dean of the group. “It’s the most easily moved group of movable parts of my career. I think anybody can play with anybody and feel comfortable and quickly interchange with no grace period. There’s a lot of that, and you see it and how it plays out if you watch the game. Things get moved around because of special teams – or one thing or the other, or penalties – and there is no reason to be chasing out of something like that.
“It’s just a group of really good hockey players. Their skill sets are vast, they’re great players, and they’re a big part of our success.”
Across the life of their 11-game point streak, the Caps have controlled only 46.02 percent of all shot attempts at 5-on-5, ranking 25th in the NHL. But they’ve yielded only the dozen goals at 5-on-5, tied for third fewest. Washington’s expected goals against at 5-on-5 over that stretch is 27.79, which ranks 30th in the League over that span, ahead of only San Jose (28.63) and Anaheim (30.20).
“I’m not in love with that recipe,” says Caps coach Spencer Carbery. “[Thompson] is a big part of that. We’re defending way too much, and we don’t have the puck enough, and we know that. We’re continuing to work and talk about it and find ways to do a better job, and not rely as heavily as we have on our goaltending to have to bail us out in those spots. Shots, shot volume, [offensive] zone possession – all that stuff has been an issue.”
Clearly, the Capitals are getting excellent goaltending and superb defensive play through this stretch. And Washington has also had the luxury of playing largely from ahead during this stretch; the Caps’ total of 284 minutes and 17 seconds of lead time – at all strengths – is second in the circuit over that stretch.
For weeks now, the Caps have made the most of limited opportunities offensively, while digging in and playing a stingy and cohesive game in their own end. The formula isn’t pretty, but it continues to deliver results.
Tuesday’s game in Edmonton was the latest example. The Oilers out-attempted the Caps 71-37 at all strengths, and by a 60-28 count at 5-on-5. And yet Washington owned the scoreboard lead for more than 31 minutes of playing time.
“When you when you defend [at 5-on-5], you want to attack with five and you want to defend with five,” says Dubois. “So if one guy gets beat, you still have four that can cover him. And you know, when our [defensemen] are making plays – like Marty [Fehervary] made a really nice play in the third period, to get it off the wall, right to the middle … and we're out of the zone. If he just rims it up, we're probably staying in our zone for another 20 or 30 seconds. But I thought our [defense] did a good job of making plays and helping us get out of the zone and not having to defend too much.”
Seattle sits in 12th place in the NHL’s Western Conference standings, and the Kraken is currently six points south of the playoff cutline as it vies for its second postseason berth in its fourth season of existence.
Thursday’s game is the third of a four-game homestand for Seattle, which defeated Los Angeles and Buffalo in the first two games at Climate Pledge Arena. The Kraken is seeking to stack up a third straight win for the first time in more than two months, since it strung together a season-high four straight victories from Nov. 8-16.
Seattle is the hockey home of several members of the Caps’ 2018 Stanley Cup championship run. Goaltender Philip Grubauer and left wing Andre Burakovsky are still here, and they were joined by center Chandler Stephenson, who signed on as a free agent last summer. Tim Ohashi is Seattle’s assistant coach, video; he came to the Kraken in October of 2020, during its pre-existence as a playing NHL franchise.
