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Caps Go for Third Straight Win

Caps goalies Braden Holtby, foreground, and Justin Peters. (Caps Outsider)

The Washington Capitals (3-0-2, 8 pts) won their second game in a row by a final score of 2-1 after a shootout, when they played the Florida Panthers (1-2-2, 4 pts) on Saturday night. The offense slowed down a bit in this one, but the defense delivered another fine performance. The goal scored for the Caps in regulation came from Jason Chimera and in the shootout Alex Ovechkin scored the clincher. Goaltender Justin Peters had a solid outing, making 20 saves on 21 shots, in addition to the save he made against Jussi Jokinen on Florida’s second attempt in the shootout to set up Ovi’s decider. Two other small notes from this game are that rookie forward Andre Burakovsky didn’t record a point for the first time in five NHL games, and center Nicklas Backstrom didn’t get his 500th career point in his 500th NHL game.

It was good to see Braden Holtby receive a rest and the team not be negatively affected by his absence. Every time Peters is given the starting nod over Holtby, it is a great opportunity for him to gain much needed NHL game experience – the 28 year-old-only has only played 70 in the NHL. It is also good to know that on a night when everything doesn’t go the Caps’ way offensively, that they can still persevere a get an ugly win which will prove important as the season progresses. An additional positive from this win is that the Caps moved into a tie for 1st in the Metropolitan Division with the New York Islanders (4-1-0, 8pts).

The Caps now begin a three-game road trip against the Edmonton Oilers (1-4-1, 3 pts) on Wednesday night at Rexall Place. The Oilers just picked up their first win of the season on Monday night against Tampa Bay, meaning they will come into this game with added confidence and a higher desire to add another win. Once again, this is a game against a lesser-touted opponent for the Caps, but they still need to approach this game like any other since every team in the NHL is full of professional talent.

Three things to watch:

  1. How will this Capitals team respond to their first road trip of the season, which is against all Canadian teams?
  2. Can the Caps improve their fifth-ranked penalty kill percentage, which sits at 90.0?
  3. And can coach Barry Trotz implement some new wrinkles to help improve the team’s power play percentage, which is ninth in the league at 25.0?

LET’S GO CAPS!!!

Jordan Teixeira

Jordan Teixeira is an eighteen year-old freshman at the University of Maryland College Park from Upper Marlboro, Maryland. He plans on majoring in Broadcast Journalism at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism. He is also a graduate of DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville, Maryland.

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