Courtesy: Zimbio.com
WASHINGTON — Following an ugly 4-0 loss at the hands on the Pittsburgh Penguins Wednesday at Verizon Center, the Washington Capitals will look to bounce back against the Montreal Canadiens at home Friday night.
If Washington wants the outcome to be different this time around, they will have to do several things in order to win Friday.
Puck possession must improve and with that comes taking more and productive shots. The Capitals have taken just 38 shots in their last two games and were dominated in their own zone and neutral zone against Pittsburgh Wednesday. While the defense hasn’t been stellar, simply playing more under control and setting up offensive situations as opposed to just taking one shot and backchecking will help the Capitals to create more chances. It will be tough sledding tonight as the Canadiens enter Friday’s game as the second-best team in goals-against-per-game (2.0).
That being said, defensively, the Capitals must improve significantly as they are getting dominated in their own end. Put this in perspective: Washington has allowed less than 30 shots just three times this season… three. Over their last two games, they have been out-shot by 49 shots-on-goal — the largest negative difference in shots-on-goal in two games for the Capitals since Jan. 31 and Feb. 3, 2004. The Capitals stunk then, but this team is more talented than that. Luckily, they will be getting back their top defenseman back as Mike Green will return to the lineup for Washington.
The Capitals announced today that they activated Mike Green from injured reserve as they reassigned fellow defenseman Dmitry Orlov to Hershey (AHL). Green will be paired up with Nate Schmidt on the second defensive pairing for head coach Adam Oates. It will be interesting to see just how much playing time Green receives after recovering from a lower-body contusion that caused him to miss three games for his team. How the Capitals set up their power play at the blue line will be interesting as well as defenseman John Carlson has filled in nicely for Green in his absence.
Washington also made two other moves that could spark something new in this team. Martin Erat will move from his accustomed left wing position to center as Brooks Laich will move out to is spot. Not sure much of a difference will be made with this move as both haven’t had tremendous impacts thus far in 2013-14. The second line in general needs to elevate their level of play and this may be the move that does it; it also may not be the right move. The Capitals also will keep Tyson Strachan active in the lineup tonight as he will replace Steve Oleksy on the third defensive pairing. Strachan has played well since being called up from Hershey and the coaches notice he plays a little more disciplined than the young Oleksy as the Capitals will need to avoid the penalty kill as Montreal is third in the league on the power play (24.1%).
Between the pipes tonight for both squads will be Peter Budaj for the Montreal Canadiens and Michal Neuvirth for the Washington Capitals. Oates was considering giving Braden Holtby a chance to bounce back after a poor performance versus Pittsburgh Wednesday night, but with Washington facing the Toronto Maple Leafs Saturday night, he sided with caution and wanted to give his starter the extra rest.
Notes: Washington is 62-68-17-3 all-time against Montreal and is 35-29-9-1 at home versus the Canadiens. This is the first of three games between the clubs this season as they will get together again next Friday back in D.C. The Capitals are 8-1-1 in their last 10 games against the Canadiens and have outscored them 30-15. At Verizon Center, Washington is 7-2-1 over their last 10 games opposite Montreal.
