The 5-3-2 Washington Capitals head into the Bell Center to take on 6-3-2 Montreal Canadiens club that has exceeded expectations so far though they are coming off a 4-1 loss to Dallas. This is the fourth game of a broken up road trip in all Canadian cities. The Capitals had some home cooking for a couple days flying back to DC from Western Canada after last Saturday’s SO win in Calgary. The club flew out to Montreal Wednesday after a practice at MedStar Capitals Iceplex.
The Caps have fared well recently in Montreal holding a 8-0-1 record in the last nine games in Montreal and forward Alex Ovechkin has over a point a game in his career vs the Habs with 27 G’s and 49 points in 45 games.
Brooks Orpik is out as he suffered a lower-body injury in Calgary. The veteran rearguard had been playing well averaging over 16 minutes a game. Madison Bowey will stay in the lineup on a third pairing with Christian Djoos is back in the lineup after being healthy scratched vs Calgary. Bowey is still looking for traction to gain a regular spot as he’s only appeared in 3 of the last 44 games including playoffs. He’s been working hard with coaching staff and feels and looks more comfortable when dressed.
The Caps have called up defenseman Aaron Ness from Hershey and assigned forward Travis Boyd (back of IR) for conditioning. Boyd has been out since pre-season and will play Friday and Saturday night for the Bears and return to Washington and be available for the Edmonton game on Monday the 5th.
Braden Holtby will get the start for Washington as he looks to gain some consistency. His 3.41 GAA and .888SV% are well above his career averages of 2.43 and .919SV%. He likes playing Montreal as he has a career 11-1-2 record vs the Habs with a 1.57 GAA and .944SV% in those 13 games. While his numbers are up early in the season he has kept the Caps in games and he could use some help in the dzone.
The Caps have not been necessarily fretted by one Carey Price in the past. Price’s career record of 6-13-4 with a 3.30 GAA and .891SV% vs the Caps are nowhere near numbers you’d expect from him.
Jakub Vrana continues to skate on the top line with Ovechkin and Kuznetsov and has looked good. He’s driving plays and starting to force opposition dmen in to bigger gaps freeing up more time for the shifty forward to make plays. Kuznetsov leads the team with 15 points and Ovechkin leads in goals with 8 so this is a line that can be very dangerous should Vrana continue to progress. It will be interesting when Tom Wilson returns after his suspension and what coach Todd Reirden does with this line if Vrana continues to play well.
Game time is 7:30 EST.
Rock The Red