March 19 vs. New York Rangers at Capital One Arena
Time: 7 p.m.
TV: NBCSW
Radio: Capitals Radio 24/7, 106.7 FAN
New York Rangers 12-12-4
Washington Capitals 19-6-4
Washington’s six-game homestand continues on Friday night when the New York Rangers hit town for a set of weekend back-to-back games in the District. The Caps and Blueshirts will face one another on Friday and Saturday night this weekend, and the Rangers will return for a Sunday afternoon tilt here on March 28. Washington has six games remaining in the month of March, four of them against the Rangers.
The Caps will carry a six-game winning streak into Friday night’s game with New York. After returning from a perfect 3-0-0 road trip in the wee hours of Tuesday morning, the Caps earned a 3-1 win over the New York Islanders in Tuesday night’s homestand opener.
Since suffering through a four-game losing streak at the outset of February, the Capitals have been on a sustained tear. They’re 13-2-1 in 16 games since then, and they rank among the league’s top five in goals for, goals against and shots against during that span. One of their two regulation losses during that stretch came at the hands of the Rangers, a 4-1 loss on Feb. 20 in the District. Earlier in February, the Caps also dropped a 4-2 decision to the Blueshirts in New York on Feb. 4.
The Rangers are the only team the Caps haven’t defeated yet, and they haven’t even held a lead at any point in the two games against New York. Washington has owned a lead at some point in 26 of its 29 games this season, and both of its games against the Rangers are among those three games in which they haven’t led.
In both previous meetings, the Rangers took a 1-0 lead into the second and built upon it before the Caps finally managed to get on the board very late in the middle period. The Caps have found themselves chasing the lead, the puck and the game in each of those prior matches with New York, and they’re seeking a better start and a better 60 minutes this time around.
Washington’s overall game is in a better place now than it was the last time these two teams met nearly a month ago, and the Caps know they need to figure out how to deal with the Rangers, given that they have six games remaining against them this season, including four in the next dozen nights.
Video: Lars Eller | March 18
On Wednesday night against the Philadelphia Flyers at Madison Square Garden, the Rangers played without coach David Quinn or any of his assistants behind the bench. New York’s entire coaching staff is currently unavailable because of COVID-19 protocol, and the club promoted its AHL Hartford coaching staff – led by Wolf Pack head coach Kris Knoblauch – to fill in until the varsity bench bosses are cleared to return.
In their first game without their usual coaching staff, the Rangers went out and trampled the Flyers 9-0 on Wednesday night, scoring seven times in the middle period to carry that 9-0 lead into the second intermission.
The Rangers’ Mika Zibanejad – who hung a five-goal game on the Capitals a year ago this month – recorded a natural hat trick in the second period of Wednesday’s game against Philadelphia. He scored shorthanded, on the power play and at even strength. Zibanejad also added three assists in the second to become just the second player in League history – and the first in more than four decades – to notch six points in a period.
“We haven’t beat them yet,” says Caps coach Peter Laviolette of the Rangers. “They’re a dangerous club and they’ve got a lot of skill. I think when I looked them up [on Wednesday] night, I saw that they had six goals on 13 or 14 shots, and so it wasn’t like they had six goals on 40 shots after two periods. So they were very opportunistic with what they did.
“We’ll look at everything, and we’ll try to be as prepared as we can for them. We haven’t had any success, we play them quite a few times coming up here in the next couple of weeks and so we’re going to need to be better.”
Video: Peter Laviolette | March 18
Washington struggled with its starts earlier this season, a problem they’ve largely overcome in recent games.
“We played them early on, and we weren’t on our toes in the first period,” says Caps center Nicklas Backstrom. “We were struggling a little bit with the first periods then.
“We have had some better starts lately, and hopefully we can bring that into [Friday’s] game; that’s going to be important. They’re a good team, they play some good hockey and they’ve got some skilled players. And they’re obviously feeling pretty good after [Wednesday] night, too.”
Dating back to last season, the Caps have lost four straight games (0-3-1) to the Rangers doing so for the first time in nearly a decade. Washington dropped four straight games (0-3-1) to the Blueshirts from Dec. 12, 2010 to Nov. 25, 2011, giving up six or more goals in three of the four losses. During the life of their current four-game slide against New York, the Caps have surrendered four or more goals against in all four losses.
“I think the one that sticks out more to me is the one [in New York on Feb. 4],” says Caps defenseman John Carlson. “But it was just a lack of detail and getting out-competed, really. I think any loss where you deserve to lose, it’s probably both of those things.
“They’re a good team, they’re a fast team, they move the puck up well in transition, and if we don’t take care of it ourselves – whether that’s to get ourselves through the ice or whether it’s to keep it away from them – they’re going to be thriving on turnovers. So taking care of the puck is really important to us in this game, because we didn’t do that in the last one in New York. We’ve got a lot of work to do against a good team.”