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GDT: Canes @ Caps 12/20 7:00

A

andyt

Canes Moderator
Staff member
The Canes kick off a 3 games in 4 day pre-Christmas road trip in DC.


Backed by a 32 save shutout from Kochetkov, the Canes took care of business on Tuesday against the Islanders. He had to be good, the Isles generated a lot of grade A chances, Horvat could have had a couple of goals. Special teams also carried the team. The PK hasn’t allowed a goal this month and is up to 3rd in the league. The PP converted again, and is at 30% for the month and is 4th in the league. Aside from Burns getting a maintenance day, practice was status quo. Expect Kochetkov in goal.

Last year’s playoff run for the Caps was a fluke, this year was supposed to be the Ovechkin march to 895. Except nobody told the Caps. They’re 2nd in the division in points, first in points percentage in the league. Ovechkin has been out with a broken fibula since November 19; the Caps are 8-4-1 in his absence. He’s not expected to play tonight. He‘s tied for the team lead in goals with Connor McMichal at 15. Dylan Strome leads with 27 assists and averages better than a point per game. Logan Thompson and Charlie Lindgren have split the games in goal, Thompson starting 16 at 2.48/.911, Lindgren starting 15 at 2.69/.902. Thompson lost to the Blackhawks on Tuesday, we should see Lindgren tonight. The Caps are 2nd in the league in goals per game and 7th in goals against. The PP is 20th on the season but they’re 9th since Ovechkin went out. I guess with Ovechkin out of his office, they’ve found other ways. Tom Wilson has 4 PP goals and nearly half his points are on the PP since Ovie went out. They’re 6th on the PK.

FanDuel for TV.
 
I think for the first time since George McPhee left for the Vegas job, Washington's front office made roster decisions around something other than servicing Ovechkin's race for the goal scoring record. Up until then everything had been about hanging on to the last drops of their 2018 Cup roster, but with Backstrom and Oshie both on the LTIR shelf and Kuznetsov off to Raleigh and then Russia, they were freed up to make some structural changes last summer instead of just tinkering. And boy did they have a good summer too. Chychrun and Sandin have fit in brilliantly and stabilized a D group that had been a real mess. And rolling the dice on Dubois ending up being just the right play, as that team desperately needed a play driver up front even if PLD's counting stats haven't been eye popping. Add in a developing Connor McMichael and that forward group takes on a whole new character. The balance poiint went from old, slow and creaky to at least moderately mobile pretty much overnight. And now they're athletic enough to actually play Carbery's system you can see why he was so sought after as an up and comer behind the bench.
 
Didn't watch the game and haven't seen the highlights either - but a disappointing result. The Caps are playing great hockey and we're not. I hope we can start playing the type of game we enjoyed at the start of the season, and I sure hope what we saw then wasn't the aberration we think this month's play has been. Time will tell.
 
Someone message me when my hurricanes are back. Until then I’d rather watch one of the 9000 hallmark Christmas movies with the wife. Yes, I said it. I’d rather watch Hsllmark Christmas movies then what I’ve been seeing on the ice lately
 
Yeah, Willow didn’t use to be in our package but it is now. I watch when the wife goes to bed.
 
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