Weak opposition helps them move back on top of Southeast The Capitals are making their final push to the NHL’s All-Star break a strong one, taking advantage of a decidedly weak schedule to land back in first place in the Southeast Division.
Wednesday’s 3-0 victory at Montreal was a much-needed road win. It also allowed Washington to grab the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference playoff chase even though it is tied with the Florida Panthers with 52 standings points. The Caps hope to continue that trend when they face the Carolina Hurricanes in Raleigh, N.C., on Friday night. With three games left until the break, they are nearing the end of a draining stretch of 10 games in 18 days between Jan. 7 and Jan. 24.
Friday’s game will be Washington’s ninth out of 13 against the bottom 10 teams in the NHL. That’s part of the reason the Caps are 8-4 since Dec. 26 — along with four consecutive games in which they were rested and their opponent played the day before.
| Up next | ||||
| Capitals at Hurricanes | ||||
| When » | Friday, 7 p.m. | |||
| Where » | RBC Center, | Raleigh, N.C. | ||
| TV » | CSN | |||
“We’ve been lucky with the schedule,” Washington forward Brooks Laich said earlier this week.
And they haven’t exactly been winning pretty. The Caps (25-18-2) will need a much better effort against the Hurricanes in Raleigh than the one they put together against them Sunday at Verizon Center. It ended in a 2-1 victory, but they were outshot 44-24 and relied too much on goalie Tomas Vokoun. And while the win in Montreal was never really in doubt after two early goals, almost 12 minutes worth of short-handed ice time could have been a disaster had Michal Neuvirth not played well in his first start in goal since Dec. 26.
Washington coach Dale Hunter insists shot totals don’t always tell the whole story. A team simply can fire pucks from 40 feet out, after all, and if there’s no traffic it’s an easy save for the goalie. But the Caps are pushing things. They have been outshot in 12 of their last 13 games — and in eight of them that disparity was nine or greater. The margin for error is razor thin if that continues.
Washington had an optional skate in Raleigh on Thursday, so there’s no word on who is in goal against the Hurricanes. Vokoun had started 10 straight before Neuvirth played against the Canadiens. Neuvirth is coming off a shutout and has good career numbers vs. Carolina (.922 save percentage, 2.23 goals-against average) while Vokoun shut down the Hurricanes just five days ago.
“I think they took about 82 shots [Sunday], which is unheard of,” Caps forward Jeff Halpern said, referring to Carolina’s total attempts at the net and not shots on goal. “I think to rely on your goalie that much, no matter who he is, is a recipe for disaster. But I think when [Vokoun is] playing well … it gives our team confidence. You can see there’s some teams in the league right now where their goalies are struggling and you can see the whole team sag. We’re doing the opposite.”
