The Washington Capitals prepare for a lone-ranger road contest tonight against the Tampa Bay Lightning before returning home to the friendly confines of Capital One Arena for four of the next five games in Washington D.C.
Following a pair of wins this past week over the sputtering Philadelphia Flyers, the Washington Capitals (5-1-0) extended their unbeaten streak to five games. Washington’s only defeat comes in the season-opener against the New Jersey Devils. The five-straight victories have launched Washington to third place in the Metropolitan Division with a chance to tie division-leading New Jersey and New York with standings points tonight.
Those points will take work against a former division rival in the Tampa Bay Lightning (4-3-0). Now without former Captain Steven Stamkos, the Lightning are relying on lethal scorer Nikita Kucherov to power the offense. The 31-year-old winger has eight goals and five assists on the season placing him fourth in the NHL scoring race with 13 points. That race is currently led by Colorado defenseman Cale Makar’s 15 points.
Washington Capitals surging in early season
The Washington Capitals have put together an impressive string of wins to start the 2024-25 NHL season off on the right skate. First, Washington took down some of the West’s best in Vegas and Dallas. A fireworks display of offense exploded in New Jersey in the 6-5 extra session win. Finally, the Washington Capitals completed the sweep against Philadelphia to keep that momentum going.
While Alex Ovechkin has been largely neutralized with two goals and three assists through six regular season games for the Washinton Capitals, the rest of the Capitals team has picked up their captain. Dylan Strome has been fantastic down the middle with nine points on the season behind three goals and six assists. Connor McMichael has also stepped up in a big way with eight points, including two goals against Philly on Wednesday.
John Carlson and new addition Jakob Chychrun have played well on the Washington Capitals blueline. Carlson sits near the top of the Capitals stats leaderboard with six points on two goals and four assists. Meanwhile, Chyrchun has also provided early goals to help drive the Washington Capitals offense early in the year.
Tampa Bay’s recent struggles
Washington has a good opportunity to keep things rolling on the road tonight against a Tampa team that has lost 3-out-of-4 games recently. It was a difficult Canadian road trip to Ottawa, Toronto, and New Jersey as Tampa allowed five goals in each contest but only came away with a win in New Jersey. Tampa returned home on Thursday night but the game-clinching goal came from Minnesota Wild forward Matt Boldy seconds into the third period. Kirill Kaprizov hit the empty net to seal the victory for the Wild.
If you excuse the Hurricane postponed game against the Carolina Hurricanes, The season started well for the Tampa Bay Lightning. Otherwise, Tampa started the campaign 3-0 before their recent losing slide that finds their record now at 4-3. Those eight standings points leave Tampa Bay in second place in the Atlantic Division.
Predominately, the second line has been the factor to worry about outside of sniper Nikita Kucherov on the first line. Center Anthony Cirelli and winger Brandon Hagel each have nine points in seven games helping to power the Tampa offense. Longtime Lightning defense Victor Hedman has eight points on the year.
Goalie Matchup
The Washington Capitals will continue to seek consistent goaltending from their complimentary duo of Charlie Lindgren and Logan Thompson. The goalies have split the workload evenly through six games. Through three games, Lindgren is 2-1 with a 2.36 goals-against-average and a 91% save percentage. Thompson is 3-0 with a 3.28 GAA and an 88% puck stop rate. At this point, either goalie has been reliable when called upon to start by Washington Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery.
The Tampa Bay Lightning feature NHL All-Star goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy alongside journeyman goalie Jonas Johansson. Vasilevskiy is the unquestioned workhorse in net starting six of the eight games this season for Tampa. The 30-year-old goalie is 3-3 this season with a 3.14 goals-against-average and a .871% save rate. Johansson, 29, is playing for his fifth NHL team since joining the league in 2019-20. He has started twice for the Lightning with a 1-0 record, a 4.08 GAA, and an 88% save rate.
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