Nov. 2 vs. Columbus Blue Jackets at Capital One Arena
Time: 5:00 pm
TV: MNMT
Radio: 106.7 The Fan, CAPS Radio 24/7
Columbus Blue Jackets (5-4-1)
Washington Capitals (7-2-0)
Coming off a five-game winning streak on the ice, the Caps wrapped up a three-game homestand late Saturday afternoon when they took on Columbus in the first of four Metro Division games this season. Saturday’s game also begins a set of back-to-back games this weekend for Washington, which will be headed to Raleigh shortly after clashing with the Jackets. The Caps face Carolina for the first time this season on Sunday afternoon in North Carolina’s capital city.
Three weeks into the 2024-25 season and with Nov. 15 looming, things look mostly rosy for the Capitals. They won seven of their nine games in October and looked like a completely different team than the one that entered the postseason in the final seconds of the 23-24 regular season finale last April.
While last season’s Caps struggled to score goals – especially early in the season – this year’s model has consistently filled the net early in the season; They have scored four or more goals in six of their first nine matches. The Cubs have scored three goals in one period on seven occasions already this season; They needed 25 games to achieve the same feat in the 23-24 season.
“We’re producing more,” Cubs coach Spencer Carberry says of the offense’s impressive uptick. “our [offensive] The time zone is much higher than it was last year, so we are trying to threaten the network more. We do a lot of things that lead to more shots and more [offensive] Zone time – which, at the end of the day, if you keep accumulating that, it’s going to generate scoring opportunities and, hopefully, run out. And we were able to do that.
They have already done that. Through nine games last season, the Cubs scored 17 goals, including just 10 in 5-on-5 play. This season, they have scored 37 goals in their first nine games (their average of 4.11 per game is tied for fourth in the NHL) and 26 of them have been scored on 5-on-5s. Against 5, and 29 at equal strength.
It has been more than 30 years since an NHL team racked up a season’s worth of goals by 20 or more in just nine games in a season. Going back to the 1992-93 season, three different teams achieved the goal in the same season: Boston, Buffalo and Quebec.
“So far, we’ve been pretty consistent,” Cubs winger Tom Wilson says. “And in this league, consistency is massive – it’s everything. After you lose a game, you’ve got to make sure you get back on the horse and get back to doing the right things, pulling the next game our way, and keep moving forward.”
The Caps have been able to do that so far. After losing their opening match on October 12, they recorded five wins before tasting defeat again. After Thursday’s 6-3 win over the Canadiens, the team has now two wins since suffering its second loss.
Six different caps scored in the win over Montreal, including Wilson and Alex Ovechkin. Wilson’s goal ended Washington’s six-game power play drought and was part of Gordie Howe’s first career hat trick, in his 763rd NHL regular season game. Ovechkin’s career goals meter rose to 858, putting him 37 shy of passing Wayne Gretzky (894) for the all-time NHL record.
The suppression of shootings in Washington also continued. The Caps have had fewer than 20 shots on net in back-to-back games; It’s the first time they’ve done so in just over nine years (October 17-20, 2015). The Capitals have limited an opponent to fewer than 20 shots on net three times through five games for the first time since Oct. 9-17, 2003.
Only once in franchise history have the Caps put together a three-game winning streak of limiting an opponent to fewer than 20 shots on net. It happened February 2-7, 1995, at the start of the lockout-shortened 1994-95 season.
Montreal was able to put just 16 shots past Washington on Thursday, and despite enjoying more than 10 minutes of power play time during the game, the Habs put just three shots on Cubs goaltender Charlie Lindgren with the man advantage.
“They stressed us out,” Carberry says of the Canadiens’ power play. “And they gave us credit, whether it was a last-second stick or a shot by one of our guys to block the shot.”
The Capitals will hunt Columbus at the end of a back-to-back set. The Jackets host Winnipeg in the final of a three-game set on Friday, and Saturday’s regional game opens a five-game road trip for Columbus. The Jackets head west after Saturday’s game. They will spend next week playing in California and in Seattle.
On Friday night in Columbus, the Jackets were looking to accomplish what Washington was aiming for Saturday: finish off a three-game home sweep. After alternating defeats with victories in the first seven games this season, the Blue Jackets beat the Oilers 6-1 on Monday and then beat the Islanders 2-0 on Wednesday.
The high-flying Jets proved to be too much for the Blue Jackets to handle on Friday. Winnipeg improved to 10-1-0 on the season with a 6-2 win. Nikolaj Ehlers had a hat-trick and four points to lead a Jets offense that scored twice in each half.
Like the Capitals, Columbus had a busy home schedule early in the season and has played just three games on the road (1-1-1) so far in the season.
