Caps (14-4-1, 29 points) at Thrashers (7-9-3, 17 points)
What » Game #20
Where » Philips Arena
When » 7:30 p.m.
TV » CSN (HD)
Radio » WFED-1500 AM
Oh, hi! It’s you again. Haven’t seen you guys since – when was it? Oh yeah, that was Sunday. So let’s just say the Capitals and Thrashers are familiar with each other. This is the 20th game of the season for Washington. And after tonight four of them will have been against Atlanta with another contest set for Dec. 4. The season series will be over by Jan. 26.
Just a quirk of the schedule, but the Caps certainly have a chance to bury the Thrashers early in the Southeast Division. Washington is in first place – a full 13 points ahead of last-place Florida, 12 up on Atlanta and 11 above third-place Carolina. Only second-place Tampa Bay (10-7-2, 22 points) is within shouting distance right now. Pretty good start, right? Well, even the Caps themselves have set the bar higher than just winning games. Check out a story from our print edition this morning on that topic. Washington coach Bruce Boudreau agrees – to an extent – that his team needs to go beyond the minimum to escape with two points.
“Well, we’re 14-4-1. It seems like an awful lot of people are trying to put us down for being the best team in the league at this stage,” Boudreau said after Thursday’s practice before heading to Atlanta. “Every time you turn on the TV it’s the same thing. We think we’re getting better most games. We played a pretty bad game maybe against Atlanta [last Sunday]. But everything else has been pretty consistent. And if you look at the competition we’ve played we’ve been successful. Who’s to say what will happen [tonight]? But I like where we are and I like the direction we’re going.”
The Post’s Katie Carrera, CSN’s Corey Masisak and Caps senior writer Mike Vogel all report from the morning skate in Atlanta that goalie Braden Holtby was first off the ice and likely to start tonight. Makes sense to save Michal Neuvirth in goal for the Flyers at home on Saturday. Meanwhile, it appears Tomas Fleischmann is back after being a healthy scratch on Wednesday against Buffalo. Boyd Gordon and D.J. King would be the other scratches, according to the assembled media.
Special teams: The Caps are 22.7% on the power play (7th) while Atlanta is a step above at 24.1% (4th). On the PK Washington has allowed 13 goals out of 80 (83.8%), which ranks 11th in the NHL. The Thrashers are 51-for-67 (76.1%), which is 25th overall.
The Caps are 8-0-1 in their last nine games and have the league’s best record. They have taken two of three games from Atlanta already. A win would give Washington its best start in franchise history at 15-4-1 (31 points). The 1991-92 crew was 15-5 through 20 games. Note that under the old rules – where an overtime loss didn’t get you a point – last Saturday’s overtime loss to Buffalo would have had the current Caps at 15-5 if they win tonight. Last year’s team was 12-4-4, 28 points, through 20 games en route to the Presidents’ Trophy.
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