Game Eight: Washington Capitals (5-1-0) at Tampa Bay Lightning (4-3-0)
Time: 7:00 PM EST
Location: Amalie Arena
TV/Streaming/Radio: FDSNSUN, MNMT, ESPN+, 102.5 The Bone
Odds: Lightning -162
The Other Site: Japers’ Rink
It’s a Saturday night hockey night in Tampa as the Washington Capitals and their 5-1 record roll into town. Since losing their season opener against the New Jersey Devils, the Capitals have rolled off five straight wins, displaying an offense not many folks expected from them. They are currently ranked third in the league at 4.33 goals per game trailing just the Rangers and the Jets. That total becomes even more impressive when the lack of power play production is factored into things. An anemic 9.5% success rate has yielded just two goals, which is equal to the amount of short-handed goals they’ve scored this year.
Leading the way in goals scored is a veteran forward that is admired as much as he is hated around the league. Nope, not that guy. It’s Tom Wilson, folks. With five goals in six games, the rugged winger is off to one of the best starts of his career, and it might propel him onto Team Canada for the 4 Nations Face-Off next season. Team Canada coach Jon Cooper will get an up-close scouting report of the 30-year-old tonight as he lines up against the Lightning.
Coach Cooper will also be on the bench to see Alex Ovechkin continue his chase for greatness. It’s unlikely that Ovi will catch Wayne Gretzky’s career mark of 894 regular season goals this year, but the Russian forward seems intent on getting as close as he can. He’s scored twice this season to bring his career total to 855, leaving him just 39 short of tying the Great One. If long-term history is any indication, he might pull a little closer tonight.
In 81 career games against the Lightning, Ovechkin has recorded 50 goals. No one in the history of the NHL has scored more times against the Bolts, and he’s due. It’s been a couple of seasons since he’s found the back of the net, with his last goal against the Lightning coming in April of 2022. It’s been even longer since he’s scored IN Tampa. On March 30th, 2019 he potted two goals, including his 50th of the season, in a 6-3 Caps win.
That was the most recent of his ten two-goal performances against the Bolts. He also had a four-goal game in 2013. This man tormented Lightning netminders for a very, very long time. Oh, and one iconic celebration:
So, the Bolts will have their work cut out tonight to keep him from getting closer to Gretzky. After a strong defensive start to the season, things have gone a bit wonky over the last four games. Over that span, they’re 1-3 and have a 3.44 GA/60 at 5v5, which ranks 27th in the league. The numbers say they’ve been a bit unlucky as they’ve posted a 2.03 xGA/60 over those four games, which is fourth in the league.
Their scoring chances against and high-danger chances against are okay as well, but their .867 SV% at 5v5 is pretty far from okay (29th in the league). The optimist would say that they’re playing well and the goaltending will straighten out, cutting the goals against drastically. What fun is there in being optimistic though? Obviously, Andrei Vasilevskiy is washed and should be punted to the sun.
Or, hear us out, the team needs to get back to defending the front of the net. Of the eleven 5v5 goals they’ve allowed over this recent span, eight of them are from high-danger areas. If they can get back to clearing out the crease and swatting away rebounds, those goals against numbers will plummet.
Tonight would be a good time to start.
Potential Tampa Bay Lightning Lines
Forwards:
Jake Guentzel – Brayden Point – Nikita Kucherov
Brandon Hagel – Anthony Cirelli – Conor Geekie
Mikey Eyssimont – Nick Paul – Mitchell Chaffee
Zemgus Girgensons – Luke Glendening – Cam Atkinson
Defense:
Victor Hedman – JJ Moser
Ryan McDonagh – Erik Cernak
Emil Lilleberg – Nick Perbix
Goaltender:
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Potential Washington Capitals Lines
Forwards:
Aliaksei Protas – Dylan Strome – Alex Ovechkin
Connor McMichael – Pierre-Luc Dubois – Tom Wilson
Jakub Vrana – Hendrix LaPierre – Andrew Mangiapane
Brandon Duhaime – Nic Dowd – Taylor Raddysh
Defense:
Jakob Chychrun – John Carlson
Rasmus Sandin – Trevor van Riemsdyk
Martin Fehervary – Dylan McIlrath
Goaltender:
Charlie Lindgren
