Rangers vs. Capitals: An elite East team comes to town

About the Rangers

The team is banged up, especially on defense.  While their top four is intact, the third pair will be Tony Bitetto and Libor Hajek.  Bitetto made his debut on Monday and this will be Hajek’s first trip off the taxi squad.  It means that Trouba, Miller, Fox and Lindgren will play heavy minutes against an offensively loaded Washington squad.  It’s amazing that Trouba alone has more NHL experience than the five other blueliners. Happy birthday to Hajek who turns 23 today.

Kaapo Kakko is off his brief trip to the COVID restricted list and will be back on the right side of Artemi Panarin and Ryan Strome.   The question is whether Chris Kreider will remain on the third line with Brett Howden or if his dynamic performance on Monday will push him back to the top line.  If so, that means that Alexis Lafrenière will get the chance to build some chemistry with yet another new set of linemates.

The right wing on the third line is to be determined, but it mostly likely will be Phil Di Giuseppe on the off wing. Julien Gauthier finally got back into the lineup on Monday, but took an awful penalty late in the third period and has now played 21 games in the NHL without scoring.

Perhaps Gauthier can learn something playing with Brendan Lemieux and Kevin Rooney who had a very energetic game against the Penguins.  Rooney is riding a two game goal scoring streak, the third of his career.

The Rangers’ goaltending rotation has been suspended for this game as Igor Shesterkin gets his second straight start.  Coach David Quinn didn’t say he was abandoning the rotation, indicating that they wanted to give Alexandar Georgiev some time off, considering his off ice tribulations this week.

With Saturday’s game against the Devils postponed, the team doesn’t play again until Monday against the Islanders and if Shesterkin plays well tonight, Monday will be when we see if the rotation is in effect or not.

The Rangers will be wearing their new third jerseys with the Lady Liberty logo.

After the win on Monday, it’s easy to forget that the Rangers were outplayed over the first two period and only came to life in the third period when they dominated.   They cannot afford to do that against the Capitals.

About the Capitals

The Capitals are in third place in the East with 15 points and a 6-1-3 record, only one point behind Boston and Philadelphia.  They just concluded a six game home stand, going 4-1-1. They cannot be happy as they lost to Boston in their last game, blowing a three goal lead halfway into the second period as the Bruins scored five straight goals to win 5-3. The Bruins took the lead with only 2:37 left in regulation and added an empty net goal.

That was the only time the Capitals have lost in regulation this season.  They have gone to overtime five times so far in their ten games, losing three times.

Evgeny Kuznetsov and  Ilya Samsonov remain unavailable due to COVID-19 protocol.  Alex Ovechkin had been on the list, but returned to the lineup on Monday.   He has scored two goals so far this season, with five assists.

The top scorer for Washington is Nicklas Backstrom with five goals and 13 points in 10 games.

With Samsonov missing games due to COVID, the goaltending duties have been taken up by rookie Vitek Vanecek.   In eight games the Czech netminder has a Goals Against Average of 2.94 and a Save Percentage of .913%.  The Caps signed former Ottawa goalie Craig Anderson after losing Henrik Lundqvist to heart surgery, but he has not played yet this season.

Like the Rangers, the Caps have been hit by the injury bug. Lars Eller, Conor Sheary and Justin Schultz are all out with various ailments and Michal Kempny is out long term following Achilles tendon surgery. As a result, there will be some unfamiliar names in the Washington lineup.

One familiar name is Zdeno Chara, signed as a free agent in the off-season. He is off to a solid start and scored against his former team on Monday.  The 43-year-old is on the top defensive pairing with John Carlson and is playing on their second power play unit.

Last season

The Rangers played the Capitals three times last season, winning twice.  The last win was the most memorable as it was the Mika Zibanejad five goal game. Their fourth game was cancelled when the season ended early.

October 18, 2019 – Capitals 5, Rangers 2

The Rangers dropped their third game in a row as they lost to the Caps in Washington, 5-2.  Washington scored three power play goals in five chances and Lundqvist stopped 23 of 25 even strength shots.  The Ranger goals came from Pavel Buchnevich and Artemi Panarin while T.J. Oshie scored twice for Washington.

November 20, 2019 – Rangers 4, Capitals 1

The Rangers had one of their best games of the season, beating Washington 4-1 at Madison Square Garden. Henrik Lundvist got the win, tying Curtis Joseph for fifth place on the all-time wins list.  Artemi Panarin scored the first two goals to get the Blueshirts started.  For Washington, it was their first road loss in regulation in ten games.

In what was probably the most memorable game of the season, Mika Zibanejad became only the third New York Ranger to score five goals in one game. It was a wild game with the Rangers taking a 5-4 lead with 1:42 left in the third period only to see Ovechkin tie the score with 43 seconds left and the goalie pulled.

Zibanejad scored the game winner off a brilliant pass from Panarin just 33 seconds into overtime.

The win pulled the Rangers within two points of the last wild card spot, occupied by the Islanders.

Stuff you should know

Brendan Smith will miss the game after his collision in the Penguins game.  No word on the nature of the injury or how long he will be out.  Jack Johnson remains out with a groin strain.

The Rangers moved Jonny Brodzinski off the taxi squad and back to Hartford.

The Capitals remain one of the top offensive teams in the NHL with a 3.70 goals per game average, third best in the league. The Rangers are 20th overall at 2.78 goals per game.

The Caps’ defense hasn’t been great and they are 23rd overall, allowing 3.20 goals per game.  To compare, the Rangers have allowed 2.79 goals per game.

Washington has the second best power play in the NHL, operating at 41% efficiency. They have scored nine goals in 22 opportunities.

The good news is that the Capitals don’t get much power play time. They are averaging 3:42 minutes per game, fewest of any team.

The Washington penalty kill has been just average, at 77.8%. They have allowed eight goals against in 36 chances.

This game will feature two of the worst faceoff teams in the NHL.  The Rangers are second to the bottom, winning 41.3% of their draws.  The Caps are not much better, 28th overall, winning 45.9%.

The Caps have the same problem as the Rangers, not scoring third period goals. They have six goals, compared to 16 in the first period and 17 in the second.  The Rangers have scored only four third period goals.

The Capitals are averaging  27 shots per game. Only four teams in the NHL take fewer.  They allow almost 33 shots per game, fifth most in the league.

3 Keys to winning

1. Win the special teams battle.  They did against the Penguins and it meant the game. The Rangers go into this match with the 19th best power play in the league, much worse that Washington.   Their 79.% penalty kill rate is better than Washington’s .  The Blueshirts need to get the power play going.
2. Take a lot of shots.  While Vitek Vanecek has been solid this season, he is still a rookie and the Rangers are a team that takes a lot of shot.s  They need to crash the net and get the dirty goals they need to win.
3. Stop Ovechkin.  Ovi loves to torment the Rangers, scoring 35 goals in 59 games. He has his sights set on passing Wayne Gretzky’s career total and with an abbreviated season, he is a man on a mission.  He had to sit out four games after violating league COVID protocols, something he cannot be happy about.

About the game

Puck drop is 7pm on the MSG Network with the radiocast on ESPN 98.7 FM.

Be sure to join Blue Line Station for our live conversation during the game.  The live thread will be up just before game time and it’s an opportunity for you to talk about the game with your fellow Ranger fans.