The 3-2-and-1 Detroit Red Wings face the 4-0-and-2 Washington Capitals on Wednesday night (7 PM EDT on Bally Sports Detroit/NBC Sports Washington Plus/ESPN+/97.1 FM).
Detroit snapped a 2-game losing streak via their 6-3 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday, and the Red Wings are starting another stretch of 3 games to be played in 3 different locations over the course of 4 nights;
Our friends from Washington, D.C. are technically unbeaten at 4-0-and-2, and they most recently defeated the Ottawa Senators 7-5 on Monday–a game in which the Capitals scored the game’s first 4 goals, surrendered said 4-goal lead, and then roared out to 6-4 and 7-5 leads.
T.J. Oshie helped the Capitals’ cause with a hat trick, and Alex Ovechkin scored 2 goals.
Washington didn’t practice on Tuesday; the Red Wings did practice, finding out that Filip Hronek will replace Gustav Lindstrom (undisclosed injury) by default.
There’s a wealth of pre-game “stuff” available thanks to the Capitals’ fine website, as well as Field Level Media, which sets up tonight’s game with the following:
The Washington Capitals got first-rate production out of their second line on Monday. The Detroit Red Wings will try to slow down the Capitals’ imposing offense when they match up in Washington on Wednesday.
T.J. Oshie delivered his fifth career hat trick in Washington’s 7-5 win over Ottawa on Monday. The second line’s center, Connor McMichael, collected the first two points of his career on assists. Anthony Mantha also added an assist.
“I thought he was really good (Monday),” Capitals coach Peter Laviolette said of Oshie. “He worked really hard. He turned over a lot of pucks. I thought his line was good. But you could notice, Oshie was moving and making a difference just by the forecheck and turning things over.”
The first-line production was solid as well, with Alex Ovechkin producing two goals. He has now scored 737 for his career.
“Lots of goals, lots of action,” Ovechkin said. “We’ll take the two points and move forward.”
It’s been a strong start for the Capitals, who haven’t lost in regulation in six games. Ovechkin has led the way, as usual, with seven goals and five assists.
Overall, the Capitals have produced 26 goals, second most in the NHL, despite modest production from their power play (three goals in 21 opportunities).
You may check out the Canadian Press’s recap of Monday’s 7-5 Capitals win, or NHL.com’s recap (Game Summary, Event Summary and Rosters included), and Sportsnet posted a highlight clip that encompasses the slightly wild and wacky nature of Monday’s affair:
Here’s the lineup the Capitals dressed in Ottawa, too:
Lineys! #CapsSens pic.twitter.com/ofnhbwIno8
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) October 25, 2021
Shifting focus back to tonight’s game, the Capitals’ PR Twitter account goes to the pains of sharing the full 39 pages of game notes that are distributed to the media before every game (if you ever wonder how the media comes up with all those stats, it’s because they do their research, via NHL.com’s fine statisticians);
WashingtonCapitals.com’s Mike Vogel also wrote a Red Wings-Capitals preview that’s worth your time:
Back on March 12, 2020, the Caps were scheduled to host the Red Wings in a Thursday night contest at Cap One. But on that Thursday morning, the NHL announced it had suspended the 2019-20 season because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Caps never played their final 13 games, two of which were scheduled against Detroit, one at home and one on the road.
Wednesday night’s meeting with the Red Wings marks the first time the two teams have met in nearly 23 months, since the Caps earned a 5-2 win in Detroit – on the strength of an Alex Ovechkin hat trick – on Nov. 30, 2019. Washington opened a four-game road trip in Motown that night, and it went on to run the table in California, returning home with a perfect 4-0-0 mark for the journey.
The last time Washington hosted the Wings was nearly three years ago, on Dec. 11, 2018. Ovechkin had a hat trick that night as well, in a 6-2 Caps victory.
Monday’s win in Ottawa extended the Caps’ season-opening point streak to six straight games (4-0-2). Washington opened last season with a franchise record nine-game point streak (6-0-3). The Caps are the only team in the League that has had a season-opening point streak of six or more games in each of the last two seasons.
Eleven of the 12 goals scored on Monday night came at 5-on-5, including all seven Washington goals. T.J. Oshie had a hat trick, Alex Ovechkin scored twice, Connor McMichael picked up his first two NHL points with a pair of assists, and five of the Caps’ six defensemen picked up a point in the game.
“Osh did a lot of the heavy lifting,” says McMichael. “He made a lot of great plays, but him and [Anthony Mantha] are great players. Like I’ve said before, playing with Osh is real easy, and having Mo out there made it even easier, so it was fun.”
It’s the first time in more than a decade that Washington managed seven or more 5-on-5 goals in the same game. Back on Feb. 16, 2011, the Caps forged a 7-6 win over the Ducks in Anaheim with all seven Washington goals coming at 5-on-5. Alexander Semin had a hat trick while Ovechkin, Mike Knuble, Brooks Laich and Dave Steckel also scored. Karl Alzner sprinkled in three assists.
Ovechkin has recorded a point in each of Washington’s six games (seven goals, five assists) this season, and he leads the NHL in goals. Linemates Evgeny Kuznetsov (four goals, five assists) and Tom Wilson (seven assists, career-high five-game assist streak) are also off to strong offensive starts for the Capitals, whose total of 20 goals at 5-on-5 is tops in the NHL.
Centers Nic Dowd and Nicklas Backstrom are both injured for the Capitals, but NBC Sports Washington’s game preview notes that Washington has few problems when it comes to production from their top-line pivot:
CAPITALS VS. RED WINGS WHAT TO WATCH
From NBC Sports Washington’s Andrew Gillis: “For a lineup without Nicklas Backstrom, the Capitals are sure doing their best to minimize his absence. In a 7-5 win over the Senators on Monday night in Ottawa, the team was led by its breakout offense, which included a hat trick from T.J. Oshie as it pumped shots on the Senators’ net all night.” Read more.
From NBC Sports Washington’s J.J. Regan: “[Alex Ovechkin has] been red hot to start the season and has seven goals and five assists in the team’s first six games of the year. Now, he’s just 29 goals away from Jaromir Jagr’s third-place mark of 766 career tallies. At the rate Ovechkin is going, reaching that won’t be a problem this season.” Read more.
CAPITALS VS. RED WINGS PLAYERS TO WATCH
Evgeny Kuznetsov, C, Capitals (6 games, 4 goals, 9 points): Ovechkin has gotten most of the attention for his hot start, but Kuznetsov has been just as integral to the Capitals’ success. His nine points on the season are tied for fourth in the NHL.
Tyler Bertuzzi, LW, Red Wings (5 games, 6 goals, 9 points): Bertuzzi enters Wednesday’s contest with nine points to his name as well. He’s coming off a back injury that limited him to just nine games last season.
The Red Wings did address the fact that they’ll be playing against an old friend tonight, as the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan noted:
The Mantha shuffle took Dylan Larkin by surprise. Facing him for the first time Wednesday will be a bit uneasy.
“Big ones (trades) like that, they’re shocking to the guys in the room,” Larkin said. “I’m sure Anthony knows it, it wasn’t going well for many guys last year. (But) he’s excited about his opportunity over there and we’re excited to have Jakub. Trades happen. It was shocking at the moment but it’s part of the game. You see it every day. You have to deal with it and show up and play.”
Mantha has two goals and two assists in six games this season. Vrana underwent shoulder surgery during training camp and will be unavailable until late January/early February.
Mantha has maintained his residence in the Detroit area and kept in contact with many Wings. He was popular among teammates. Larkin admits it’ll feel different playing against his friend.
“It will be strange,” Larkin said. “I’ve talked to him, he was back here in the summer training here. I expect him to be highly motivated and when we’ve seen that out of him, he can be a dangerous player. We have to be ready. They’re playing well right now and they can score, so we have to defend.”
Only coach Blashill would put it like, well, a coach, as MLive’s Ansar Khan noted:
Mantha, in 20 regular season games with Washington, has six goals and six assists.
“Certainly, he was a big piece of our group and really good friend to a number of our players, so that’s always different (to play against) for those guys,” Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. “But I also think it’s a new season and it’ll be more about getting opportunities for guys who are good friends with him to say ‘hi’ and then competing against each other. So, I don’t expect it to be a real big deal.”
The Capitals have two other former Red Wings in defensemen Nick Jensen and Dennis Cholowski.
Jensen has two goals and one assist while averaging 20 minutes per game and is tied for the team lead in plus-minus rating (plus-9). Cholowski has not appeared in a game yet. He was claimed off waivers from the Seattle Kraken, who claimed him from Detroit in the expansion draft.
Jensen’s doing quite well in Washington, which is good to see, and Cholowski has to be on the Caps’ roster for a month after being claimed, so the Caps will likely give him a chance to play sooner than later (though probably not tonight).
After tonight’s game vs. the Capitals, the Red Wings will host the Florida Panthers on Friday (7:30 PM EDT on ESPN Plus only), and then the Wings head to Toronto to play the Maple Leafs on Saturday night (7 PM EDT on Bally Sports Detroit and Hockey Night in Canada), kicking off a 4-game, week-long road trip.
Between November 2nd and 20th, the Wings play 11 times in 19 nights, too, so it’s important that the Red Wings get off to the best start they possibly can.
