The Washington Capitals made their way to South Florida Tuesday afternoon following an optional skate at MedStar Capitals Iceplex. Game 5 against the Panthers is set for 7:30 PM tonight. The Capitals have an all-time record of 19-25 in Game 5s, are 9-10 when the series is tied 2-2 and are 3-4 on the road when tied 2-2.
The Capitals held their gameday morning skate at FLA Live Arena in Sunrise, Florida, this morning at 11:30 am. Tom Wilson was once again a non-participant. Laviolette said that he remains listed “day-to-day”. Laviolette also confirmed that Ilya Samsonov will get the start in goal. The lines and pairs at morning skate:
Capitals at morning skate (same lines and D as Game 4):
Ovechkin-Kuznetsov-Oshie
Johansson-Backstrom-Mantha
McMichael-Eller-Sheary
Larsson-Dowd-HathawayFehervary-Carlson
Orlov-Jensen
TvR-SchultzSamsonov (starter’s net)
Vanecek— Tom Gulitti (@TomGulittiNHL) May 11, 2022
Capitals power play units:
PP1: Carlson, Ovechkin, Oshie, Backstrom, Kuznetsov
PP2: Orlov, Schultz, Sheary, Mantha, Johansson.
Russian, The Net
Ilya Samsonov is dominating Sergei Bobrovsky in all of the basic stats. He leads in save percentage (sv%), goals against average (GAA), high-danger save percentage (hdsv%) and goals above expected (xGA – GA). Bobrovsky leads in just low-danger save percentage. (More in Ilya Samsonov and Sergei Bobrovsky)
Samsonov sits comfortably in the upper right quadrant of the graph (performing better than average for save percentage and expected goals differential. In fact, he is among the top 5 currently playing in the postseason.
Osh-Babe
T.J. Oshie scored his team-leading third goal of the playoffs in Game 4 against Florida Monday, marking his 31st career playoff goal and his 26th with Washington. With the goal, Oshie passed Dale Hunter (25g) for sole possession of fifth place on the franchise’s all-time playoff goals list. Four of the franchise’s top-five playoff goal scorers are currently on the Capitals roster (1. Alex Ovechkin: 72g; 2. Nicklas Backstrom: 37g; 4. Evgeny Kuznetsov: 29g; 5. Oshie: 25g).
Oshie’s goal came on the power-play, which marked Washington’s fifth power-play goal on 17 opportunities through four games (29.4 percent). The Capitals now have at least one power-play goal in each game this series. Oshie’s 15 playoff power-play goals as Capital ranks second in franchise history (Alex Ovechkin: 28). Oshie has recorded 56 points (25g, 30a) in 70 playoff games since joining Washington in 2015-16. During that span, his 0.80 playoff points per game is tied for 15th in the NHL among forward with at least 60 playoff games played.
From The Other Side
It sounds like the Panthers’ Mason Marchment may be questionable for tonight’s game. The Panthers lines at morning skate:
Panthers lines at their morning skate prior to Game 5 vs,. Capitals
Verhaeghe-Barkov-Duclair
Huberdeau-Bennett-Giroux
*Mamin-Lundell-Reinhart
Acciari-Luostarinen-Hornqvist*Maxim Mamin in line to potentially play his first NHL playoff game if Marchment is unavailable tonight.
— Tom Gulitti (@TomGulittiNHL) May 11, 2022
Very Special Teams
The Capitals are 5 for 17 on the power play and own the fifth-highest power play percentage in the playoffs (29.4%). Washington has scored a power play goal in each game this series. It marks the first time the Capitals have done this in four straight playoff games since 2018 (Games 5 and 6, Second Round vs. Pittsburgh, then Games 1 and 2, Eastern Conference Final vs. Tampa Bay).
The Capitals are one of eight teams in the NHL to have at least four players with a power play goal (T.J. Oshie: 2x; Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom and Tom Wilson). The Capitals are the only team in the playoffs to have killed off all power play opportunities against (13). Florida finished the regular season tied for the fifth-best power-play percentage in the NHL.
Washington has allowed 15 shots on 13 power play opportunities in this series and have the second-lowest shots against per 60 minutes of penalty kill time (34.68 shots per 60 minutes of PK time), only trailing Colorado (26.61 shots per 60 minutes of PK time).
Peter Laviolette
Capitals head coach Peter Laviolette met with the media following the team’s morning skate.
Martin Fehervary
Capitals rookie defenseman Martin Fehervary also met with the media following morning skate.
