Caps Look for Lead, Penalty-Killing Prowess vs. Habs
Posted on January 24, 2013One of the issues vexing the Caps in losing the first two
games of the season is the team’s inability to gain and hold a lead. Washington
has not yet led at any intermission in the young season, and its only lead in
120 minutes of play lasted for a duration of just 2 minutes and 32 seconds.
Caps coach Adam Oates hasn’t been able to roll four lines
yet in the early going because he’s had to ride his star players more in an
effort to get back into games. Grabbing an early lead and maintaining it would
be a panacea for the Caps at this point, but it’s easier said than done.
The Montreal Canadiens are in town to take on the Capitals
tonight, and they’re one team that Washington was able to do exactly that
against last season. In fact, the Caps never trailed in any of the four games
they played against Montreal in 2011-12, winning all four contests by a
combined count of 13-3.
Going back to 2010-11,Washington has now won six straight
games over the Habs, outscoring Montreal by a combined 19-5 in those contests.
The Caps have not taken a regulation loss to Montreal in their last 11 regular
season games (9-0-2), dating back to 3-2 loss to the Habs on Nov. 20, 2009 at
Verizon Center.
That game is noteworthy in another regard: it marked the NHL
debut of Caps defenseman John Carlson.
Another early season issue for Washington has been its
penalty-killing outfit. The Caps have surrendered five power-play goals on a
dozen extra-man opportunities in two games, leading to a woeful penalty-killing
success rate of 58.3%. But Montreal’s last power-play goal against the Capitals
came on Feb. 10, 2010, just prior to the NHL’s Olympic break that winter.
In a 6-5 overtime loss that halted Washington’s
franchise-record 14-game winning streak, ex-Cap Glen Metropolit scored a power-play
goal against then-Washington netminder Jose Theodore. Roman Hamrlik – now with
Washington – had one of the assists on that Metropolit goal nearly three years
ago.
Since that Metropolit power-play goal, Washington has
successfully snuffed 33 straight Canadiens power-play chances over a span of
eight games. Included in that run is a rare six-minute power play on Jan. 18,
2012 when John Erskine was given an elbowing minor and a high-sticking
double-minor on the same play.
Washington has tweaked its penalty-killing system this
season, and the unit as a whole has adjusted haltingly.
“We have too much separation I think between the forwards
and the [defense],” says Caps defenseman Karl Alzner of the team’s penalty-killing
unit. “That’s how [the Jets] scored their second goal in the last game.
“We’re playing half of what we were doing last year and half
of what we’re doing this year, and it’s not the right halves. They’re not
meshing with each other at all. And I’m definitely a culprit for remembering
the right time to pressure now. Last year, the right time to pressure was all
the time. This year, it has to be a certain moment. I think that’s where we
faltered.”
Michal Neuvirth gets the net tonight for the Capitals,
making his first start of the season. Neuvirth is 4-1 lifetime with a 1.82 GAA
and a .939 save pct. in six starts lifetime against the Canadiens. Neuvirth was
named the game’s first star in each of his three appearances against Montreal
last season, while fellow Czech Republic native Tomas Vokoun.
It’s a small sample size, but ex-Canadien and Montreal
native Mike Ribeiro has had good success in limited showings against his former
team. Ribeiro has two goals and six points in four career games against the
Canadiens.
“I didn’t play [them] often,” says Ribeiro. “It’s probably
my fifth game against them. Any kid I think who plays against Montreal – it
doesn’t matter if you’re from there or not, if you’re from Russia you still
watched the Canadiens back in the day – it’s always special to play against a
team like that. I’m obviously from there, I played there, it’s a little bit
more excitement. I’m just anxious to play this game.”
Caps center and Quebec native Mathieu Perreault has also had
good success against the Habs with four goals and six points – his highest
total against any opponent – in seven career games against Montreal.
Getting and maintaining a lead and getting a good
performance from the penalty-killing unit would go a long way to putting the
Caps in the win column for the first time this season.
Thanks as always to Carter Myers for a lot of the
statistical data contained in this post.
