The Washington are heading to Canada to face the Ottawa Senators for their first away game this season. This is coming a couple of days after a very ugly but hard fought win over Calgary on Monday night. Monday night, the team did show some resiliance, as they battled back from a two goal deficit. It saw Matthew Philips get his very first NHL goal against the team that drafted him.
Spencer Carbery, has taken to shaking up the lines, before the game. Strome has moved up to center the first line, while Backstrom was moved to center the third line. Anthony Mantha who was a healthy scratch Monday, is now playing wing on the fourth line alongside Beck Malenstyn, and Aliaksei Protas. Connor McMichael has moved to wing on the second line. Darcy Kuemper seems to still be the go to goaltender even though he has given up six goals through two games.
The Capitals continue to take really bad and untimely penalties. The Caps had five total for the game, going a total of ten minutes, down a man. They also gave up a goal during one of the man advantages Monday, meaning in two games, the penalty killers, have given up a total of three goals. On top of this sloppy play to get a lot of penalties, they also had twelve giveaways, including multiple in the offensive zone eliminating a good scoring opportunity.
While the team is still adjusting to some of the younger players who have only played a handful of NHL games over the past season, that’s still not an excuse for the super slow starts the team has had. The team had a total of three shots in the first period, while opposition had 18. The defense, although improved, has also left a lot to be desired. John Carlson led all defenseman on the team with a total of 29:26 time on ice.
The post Capitals head north of the border to face the Senators in their first away game this season appeared first on Marylandsportsblog.com.