Pacific Northwestern Blues – Although they arrived in British Columbia some 18-20 hours after originally scheduled to do so and had to scrap a practice because of some sudden travel woes, the Caps are in Vancouver and set to take on the Canucks tonight at Rogers Arena.
“I always love stepping off the plane in the Pacific Northwest; the air is just a little bit different,” says Caps coach Spencer Carbery, who grew up in nearby Victoria. “A little bit later than we anticipated getting here, but always special coming back home to this area – Vancouver, Victoria – to be able to play against the Canucks, basically a team that I grew up my entire life watching on TV and being in this city. So, it’s a special game that I circle every year.”
For just the second time this season, the Caps enter tonight’s game in Vancouver having lost three straight games in regulation. They’ll seek to halt that brief skid against a Canucks team that’s been reeling for a longer period of time; Vancouver is lugging a franchise-record 11-game losing streak (0-9-2), and it has dropped each of its last eight games in regulation.
Across the life of its losing streak – which dates back to Dec. 29 of last year – Vancouver has been outscored by a combined 49-20.
The Caps have concerns of their own. Without consecutive wins since early December – and slogging along with a 7-11-4 mark since – they’ve dipped down to 11th in the Eastern Conference standings. With 50 games under their belts already, the Caps have played more games than any other team in the Eastern Conference except the Rangers, who are currently occupying the basement of the conference standings.
Prior to departing on this trip, the Caps and coach Spencer Carbery spoke of the importance of this trip to their season’s fortunes. They put forth a good effort against the League’s best team in Denver on Monday afternoon in the trip opener, but a few mistakes in the third period doomed their bid to escape that barn with a point or two.
Tonight in Vancouver, their focus must be limiting those mistakes over a full 60 minutes against a cranky Canucks team that is desperate to halt its lengthy slide.
“We had some face off malfunctions in that game,” says Carbery of the contest in Colorado. “We obviously had some hiccups defending some 1-on-1’s, puck play, ends up in the back of our net. So, it’s just those moments through a game. We just have to be able to play 40 minutes, 20 minutes, one game, two games, six games; we’ve got to be able to eliminate those. And right now, we’re just making too many mistakes.”
Back In The Saddle Again – Caps right wing Tom Wilson has been practicing and skating for a while now, but the tea leaves are finally lining up and indicating that the big winger is finally on the verge of returning from a lower body injury that felled him on Jan. 3 in a game against Chicago and has kept him out of action since.
“I’m getting ready to go,” he says. “My mentality right now is I’m going to try and play. I haven’t talked to the training staff. We just wanted to attack this day and see how it felt, so we’ve got some stuff to discuss. I don’t know 100 percent what the plan is, but I’m feeling a little better, so hopefully I’m close.”
This afternoon’s announcement of the loan of winger Ivan Miroshnichenko to AHL Hershey is another indicator that Wilson is ready to step back into the Washington lineup tonight after the team went 3-5-0 in his absence.
“We could go on for a while about what Tom Wilson brings,” says Carbery. “But I think if I could sum up maybe the most impactful thing on the ice – so, not talking about the leadership stuff – it’s just his intensity and competitive fire. Not that we don’t have any of that without him, he just brings such a large amount of that to our group. And so, anytime there is a game that’s hanging in the balance or we need a big moment, somebody to ‘drag our guys into the fight,’ it’s usually Tom Wilson that’s doing that. And so just that competitive fire and edge that he brings.”
Being absent for eight straight games is the most consecutive games Wilson has missed since he was out for the first half of the 2022-23 season while rehabbing from offseason knee surgery.
“It feels like it’s been forever,” says Wilson. “It’s really hard to watch, especially at this time of year; the games are getting super important, and at the end of the day, you just want to be out there helping the team. And when I’m back, whether I can play a full 20 minutes or whatever, I just want to just be on that bench and helping the team out any way I can and getting back in there. And at the end of the day, it just sucks watching so it’ll be fun to get back out there when I do.”
Coming Home Again – Carbery isn’t the only member of the Caps’ traveling party who was pumped about being back home for tonight’s game. Caps center Justin Sourdif hails from nearby Richmond, BC, and he will be playing his first NHL game in Vancouver against the Canucks tonight.
“It’ll be pretty cool,” says Sourdif. “I’ve seen a few games in this building as a spectator, and to get to be actually playing against the Canucks, it’s pretty cool and I’ll have lots of family here tonight. I’ll just try and put on the best performance I can and work as hard as I can and help the team win tonight.”
The 23-year-old pivot is in his rookie NHL season, and he returned to Washington’s lineup for Monday’s trip opener in Denver after missing three games with an upper body injury. He was able to practice with the team a few times last week before returning, but getting on the ice for today’s morning skate was – aside from Monday’s game in Denver – his only time on the ice since Saturday’s morning skate.
“Just getting some extra touches in,” he says. “Obviously not being able to skate [Tuesday], I just wanted to stay out a little bit longer today. You don’t want to push yourself too hard; you want to have some energy for tonight. But I think just getting some little touches in and a little wall work always helps when you can’t get an ice time, like [Tuesday].”
When he was injured in Nashville on Jan. 11, Sourdif had 10 points (six goals, four assists) in his previous seven games.
“It’s tough,” says Sourdif. “You never want to go down, especially when you’re starting to click with guys. And you hate watching the game, you want to get back as soon as you can. Just coming into tonight, I’m going to try to put my best foot forward again and just try and help the team win.”
In The Nets – Two nights after Charlie Lindgren delivered a gritty 39-save performance in a loss at Colorado in the trip opener, Logan Thompson is back between the pipes for the Capitals tonight in Vancouver.
According to Hockey Reference, Thompson leads all NHL goaltenders with 16.8 goals saved above average this season. Among all goaltenders who have made at least 20 appearances this season, Thompson ranks fourth in GAA (2.38) and fifth in save pct. (.914).
Lifetime against the Canucks, Thompson is 3-2-0 with a 3.35 GAA and an .889 save pct. in six appearances (five starts).
For the Canucks, Kevin Lankinen is the slated starter. The former Blackhawk and Predator came into this season on the heels of a career high 25 victories with Vancouver last season, but he has just six wins in 23 starts (25 appearances) for the Canucks this season. On home ice this season, Lankinen is 1-9-2 in a dozen appearances with a 3.88 GAA and an .857 save pct.
In three career starts and appearances against the Capitals, Lankinen is 2-0-1 with a 1.63 GAA and a .940 save pct.
All Down The Line – Here’s how the Caps and the Canucks might look on Wednesday night in Vancouver:
WASHINGTON
Forwards
24-McMichael, 17-Strome, 9-Leonard
21-Protas, 34-Sourdif, 43-Wilson
8-Ovechkin, 26-Dowd, 53-Frank
22-Duhaime, 29-Lapierre, 72-Beauvillier
Defensemen
6-Chychrun, 74-Carlson
42-Fehervary, 3-Roy
38-Sandin, 57-van Riemsdyk
Goaltenders
48-Thompson
79-Lindgren
Healthy Extras
15-Milan
47-Chisholm
52-McIlrath
Injured/Out
80-Dubois (abdomen)
VANCOUVER
Forwards
91-Kane, 40-E. Pettersson, 74-DeBrusk,
18-O’Connor, 64-Kampf, 6-Boeser
92-Ohgren, 53-Blueger, 8-Garland
21-Hoglander, 63-Sasson, 94-Karlsson
Defensemen
25-E. Pettersson, 17-Hronek
24-Buium, 57-Myers
29-M. Pettersson, 5-Willander
Goalies
32-Lankinen
30-Patera
Healthy Extras
7-Joseph
13-Baths
54-Instalments
Injured/Out
27-Forbort (undisclosed)
35-Demko (lower body)
53-Blueger (lower body)
72-Caught (upper body)
93-Rossi (lower body)
