Courtesy: capitals.nhl.com
With a solid 4-1 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets Saturday night in our nation’s capital, the Washington Capitals were able to salvage what was left of their home stand as they are hitting the road for four games that span the country of Canada.
Tuesday night, they begin their quest over the border against former Southeast Division foe the Winnipeg Jets. Oddly enough, in the Capitals’ first eight games of the regular season, they are 3-5-0, going 2-0-0 against Canadian hockey teams and 1-5-0 against teams from the USA.
No need to put a whole lot of stock into that bizarre statistic as the two wins came against the lowly Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames, but this is where we will see just how good the Capitals can become.
This is the first major road trip for the Capitals as they won’t play a game at the Verizon Center until Nov. 2 against the Florida Panthers. The five-game road trip will conclude with a game back in the States against the much maligned Philadelphia Flyers.
One of the positives to take from the end of the road trip was that the line changes seems to work for Washington. Second line forward Martin Erat proved his worth to head coach Adam Oates and reinforced the idea that he isn’t a fourth line player. He was flirting with anywhere around nine or 11 minutes of ice time tops, but he cracked 17 Saturday and it paid off with three assists. A guy like Erat could become even more valuable on the power play as the Capitals could use another left-handed shot in addition to Nicklas Backstrom on the top line.
The 32-year-old also fits the mold of a solid second-line forward given his ability to forecheck and backcheck and press the action on opponents. Not taking anything away from 29-year-old Mikhail Grabovski, but Erat has a little more experience and is a tad more gritty. He has caught the injury bug in the past because he plays a little more risk-taking hockey… and that is just fine with Oates.
In order to consider this a successful road trip, they have to take three out of five. Considering they already have wins over two of the four Canadian teams, the odds seem in their favor. Given that the Capitals have a game-practice-game-practice routine over the next week, it will be interesting to see how many starts Braden Holtby will receive and if the lines and defensive pairings will remain the same throughout.
The puck drops at 8:00 PM against the Jets at MTS Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Through nine games, Winnipeg finds themselves at 4-5-0 and 6th in the Central Division. Washington is currently 5th in the Metropolitan Division as they look to stockpile wins and build some early season momentum after a slow start to 2013-14.
