The Washington Capitals (4-2-1) are in Calgary to face the Flames (4-4-1) Sunday night at Scotiabank Saddledome, in the second game of its first back-to-back set of the season. Puck drop is 9:30 PM and will be carried on CSN.
CALGARY
The Capitals run into a Flames team that is hitting on all cylinders at this point. The Flames have won three consecutive games, outscoring their opponents 12-5 in that stretch. In addition to their recent offensive outburst, Flames goaltender Brian Elliott has been “hot” as well. Elliott has played in the past three games, registering a 1.63 GAA and a .944 save percentage. The Flames last played on Friday night, beating the Ottawa Senators 5-2 at home. The team should be well rested for the Capitals.
Calgary is currently 27th in the league on the power play with an 11.4% conversion rate. The Flames are also 27th in the league in penalty kill at 73.2% for a special teams index of 84.6%.
Calgary is currently 28th in the league in goals allowed, giving up 31 goals in nine games. However, the Flames are 4th in the league in scoring with 29 goals through nine games. It should be noted that the average for games played in the league is 8 games, which is reflected in Calgary’s league rankings for goals.
The Flames lost the first two games of the season to the Edmonton Oilers in a back-to-back set.
“Playing against players like Backstrom & Ovechkin is always fun – try to take away their time & space & make it a tough night for them.” pic.twitter.com/g7paEAZ8FH
— Calgary Flames (@NHLFlames) October 30, 2016
“He’s a special player. Those guys, you’ve got to give extra attention to.” – Kris Versteeg on facing Alex Ovechkin pic.twitter.com/1w9YuYOk84
— Calgary Flames (@NHLFlames) October 30, 2016
WASHINGTON
The Capitals are coming off of a 5-2 win in Vancouver last night, and will be playing in the second of a back-to-back set of games. The Capitals outplayed Vancouver for a majority of the game on Saturday night, and then pulled away late. Vancouver was playing the second game of a back-to-back set. Marcus Johansson scored two goals and assisted on Tom Wilson’s first goal of the season. Capitals goalie Philipp Grubauer stopped 18 of 20 shots for his second victory of the season. Braden Holtby will get the start in between the posts for the Capitals.
Shots Fired – The Capitals are currently second in the league in shot attempts per game at 33.7.
Special Teams – With last night’s power play goal, the Capitals are currently 23rd in the league with a 14.3% conversion rate. The Capitals are also 23rd in the league in penalty kill with a 76.2% rate, for a combined special teams index of 90.5%.
Goals – The Capitals are second in the league in goals against with 15 goals allowed throughout the seven games this season. The Capitals are 21st in the league in goals scored, with 19.
MATCHUP
Sunday night’s tilt will be the first in a two-game series between the Calgary Flames and Washington Capitals in 2016-17. The Flames travel to the Nation’s Capital on March 21st to wrap up the short two-game series.
The teams split their two-game series last season. The Capitals beat the Flames in Calgary on October 20th, with a 6-2 win. The Flames returned the favor, beating the Capitals 3-2 in overtime, in Washington on November 13th, 2015.
Sean Monahan led the Flames in scoring against the Capitals in 2015-16 with three goals. Evgeny Kuznetsov led Washington in scoring against Calgary with three assists.
SHAVINGS
- The Capitals face Troy Brouwer for the first time as a Calgary Flame.
- Alex Ovechkin has registered 19 points (9g, 10a) in 12 career games against Calgary and has earned four points (1g, 3a) in his last three games against the Flames. (@Capitals PR)
GAME LINKS
Caps Western Trip Continues in Calgary (Mike Vogel)
Pre-game notes: Philipp Grubauer again has strong showing in his second start (WaPo)
SCENES FROM THE ROAD
back to back games always included a late night unpack by #Caps training staff pic.twitter.com/kT3dVw05rX
— Greg Smith (@Smittycaps) October 30, 2016
By Jon Sorensen
I added a couple of other “funny” Caps moments on the NoVaCaps FB page: 1) Semin and Ovi “patty cake” celebration in a game vs Ottawa during Dec 2008; 2) Semin climbing on top of Ovi to retrieve soccer ball used in pre-game soccer. (There also are lots of videos with funny moments of Ovi. And I’m sure there were funny moments involving Laich and Green, who were the Caps version of “The Odd Couple”