Reigning Hart Trophy winner Taylor Hall and the 9-10-4 New Jersey Devils pay a visit to Capital One Arena to battle a 14-7-3 Capitals team currently on a 6 game winning streak tied with Colorado for most consecutive wins in the league going into Friday’s games and marking the longest winning streak for the team in just under two years.
The Devils have lost 3 games in a row and after a hot 4-0 start they are only 5-10-4 since while allowing lots of chances and have seen their goals against average balloon to 3.43 during the month of November. Washington is 6th in the league scoring 3.46 goals a game so they should be able to get some good looks today. Hall’s 24 points and 17 assists lead the Devils scoring while Kyle Palmieri paces the goal lead for the Devils with 12.
The Capitals special teams play seems to be evening out as the power play has cooled off while the penalty kill has played better. The Capitals power play, which was red hot in October, still sits in 4th place in the NHL with a 28.4% rate and are 3rd at home at 34.1%. However in the last month since November 1st, and potentially owing to Evgeny Kuznetsov and TJ Oshie being out the last seven games, the power play has retracted some only scoring at 20.5%.
The penalty kill which was rated in the bottom five of the league has crept back up to 22nd overall to 77% and in November they are 13th with an 80.8% efficiency rate. The Caps had allowed a power play goal against in 15 of the first 20 games of the year but now haven’t given up one in 4 games and 13 times shorthanded respectively. Having Tom Wilson back in the lineup has helped here though missing Brooks Orpik continues to be a challenge.
Nicklas Backstrom and Alex Ovechkin lead the Capitals in scoring with 28 points each with Ovechkin’s 18 goals and Backstrom’s 22 assists pacing the club. John Carlson continues to lead all Caps in ice time as the early Norris Trophy candidate continues to play in all situations and is 3rd in NHL defense scoring with 26 points putting him three behind Ottawa’s Thomas Chabot for the NHL lead.
The Capitals got some good news on the injury front as Evgeny Kuznetsov skated in full practice on Thursday and will likely suit up for the game vs the Devils tonight.
He’s in. https://t.co/aRMw1589Dx
— Isabelle Khurshudyan (@ikhurshudyan) November 30, 2018
Lineups at pre game this morning…
Caps’ morning lines:
— Isabelle Khurshudyan (@ikhurshudyan) November 30, 2018
Ovechkin-Backstrom-Wilson
Vrana-Kuznetsov-Connolly
Burakovsky-Eller-DSP
Stephenson-Dowd-Jaskin
Kempny-Carlson
Orlov-Niskanen
Djoos-Bowey
Braden Holtby will get the start for Washington as he has been hot lately going 4-1 and allowing only 7 goals over his last 5 appearances saving 139 of 147 shots in that span for a .945 SV%.
CAPS TODAY: Since Nov. 7, Braden Holtby is 5-2-0 with a 1.50 goals against average and a .956 save percentage, the lowest goals against average and the highest save percentage among goaltenders with at least five games played since Nov. 4. More info on https://t.co/HecIC0n0Rr pic.twitter.com/dc2Uc91M4L
— CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) November 30, 2018
Capital Gain:
Nicklas Backstrom needs 3 goals to tie Mike Ridley (218) for 4th all-time goals in franchise history
Caps prospect Kody Clark had a Gordie Howe Hattrick for Ottawa 67’s this week
Tom Wilson will play in his 400th career game tonight. Arizona's Alex Galchenyuk and Toronto's Morgan Rielly are only others from his 2012 draft class.
Former Capitals forward Alex Chiasson is getting a chance in Edmonton…
#ALLCAPS alum Alex Chiasson is up to 11 goals in 19 games with #LetsGoOilers. He's suddenly two goals shy of matching his career high (13G in 2013-14). Pretty good for a guy on his 4th team in as many seasons who cracked the Edmonton lineup this fall after making good on PTO
— Ben Raby (@BenRaby31) November 30, 2018