From Caps official site
From Caps official site
Washington Capitals (4-2-0-0)
Tampa Bay Lightning (4-0-2-0)
Fresh from a 2-1 win over the Rangers in New York on Wednesday, the Capitals open up a busy weekend with their sixth consecutive road game. The weekend slate begins with a Friday night divisional duel against the swift-starting Tampa Bay Lightning. Tampa holds the Southeast Division lead heading into the Friday game, but the Caps can pull even with a win in regulation time.
The Capitals ended a brief two-game skid with their triumph over the Rangers. Washington and goaltender Olie Kolzig fended off an energetic Rangers offense in the first period. Kolzig stopped all 16 shots launched by New York in the first, keeping the game scoreless until the Washington attack could get on track.
Throughout the first five games of the current trip, that has been a recurring pattern. The Caps have been outshot by a combined 72-42 (an average of 14-8) in the first period of the five games on this trip. Kolzig has been extremely sharp this season but he has been particularly strong in the first period of the trip. The Caps have allowed four first period goals in the five road games to date, but three of those have been charged to backup Craig Billington's account. Kolzig has fashioned a stellar .943 save percentage on the season. The big goaltender has stopped 64 of 65 first period shots on this trip for a positively stunning save percentage of .985.
As brilliant as Kolzig has been in goal, Jaromir Jagr has matched him at the other end of the ice. Jagr is seventh in the league scoring race with nine points and has had a hand in nine of Washington's 14 goals on the season. He has scored the game-winner in three of the Capitals' four wins and has had at least a point in five of six games this season.
After the first period in New York, Washington dominated play. The Caps forechecked tenaciously, continually had traffic in front of New York netminder Mike Richter and pushed their way through the marshmallow underbelly of the Blueshirts' defense. The Caps had Richter far out of position on several occasions and were only a few Johnny-on-the-spots shy of a rout at the Garden.
After taking on Tampa Bay on Friday, the Caps travel south to Sunrise for a Saturday match against the Florida Panthers. The trip concludes in Pittsburgh on Monday. The Capitals need only one more win to ensure no worse than a .500 trip.
On Thursday, the Caps claimed 23-year-old defenseman Alex Henry off waivers from Edmonton. Henry is not expected to join his new teammates before Monday in Pittsburgh. He played in three games with the Oilers earlier this season prior to being claimed by the Caps and that represents the sum total of his NHL experience.
Henry was Edmonton's second pick (67th overall) in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft. After completing his junior hockey career with the OHL's London Knights, Henry turned pro in 1999-2000 with Hamilton of the American Hockey League. He has spent the last three seasons with Hamilton, displaying steady improvement along the way. Henry is a big (6-foot-5, 220 pounds) stay-at-home defenseman. During his draft year, the NHL's Central Scouting Bureau noted Henry's competitive nature, his intensity, his work ethic and his strong attitude toward the game. The CSB also noted that Henry was effective at finishing his checks and was positionally sound in his own end.
Henry suited up for each of the Oilers' first three games, averaging just over seven minutes a night in his role as the team's number six blueliner. He was a healthy scratch in the team's next three games.
Power-playas: Bondra and Lang continue to be a force with a man advantage (or two)
The Capitals have scored at least one power play goal in five of their six games and feature the league's most deadly power play. Washington has successfully converted 25.9 percent of its extra-man opportunities. Capital penalty killers have quelled 84.2 percent of the opposition's manpower advantages, the 13th best rate in the league. The Capitals did not allow a power play goal on Wednesday in New York, the first time this season they could make that claim.
Washington figured to be dueling with the defending champion Carolina Hurricanes for supremacy in the NHL's Southeast Division. But it's Tampa Bay that has the early leg up in the Southeast race.
The surprising Lightning is the last remaining unbeaten team in the NHL and is the first team in the league to reach the double-digit barrier in points. After falling behind by a 2-0 count in Columbus on Wednesday night, the Bolts came back to forge a 2-2 tie with the Blue Jackets. The Lightning weathered a storm in overtime when the Jackets went on the power play. Tampa Bay goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin made some big stops to keep his team out of the loss column.
The Lightning has proven to be a resilient bunch, coming from behind to earn points in five of its six games. Three times the Bolts have bounced back from a two-goal deficit.
The Tampa Bay formula has been similar to the one used by Washington. The Lightning has made the most of its team speed by using a hard-forechecking system and putting pressure on the opposition's defense.
St .Louis, Modin and Richards comprise a potent first line
Last year, the Lightning scored only 178 goals, fewest in the Eastern Conference, third fewest in the league and second fewest in the club's history. This season, Tampa Bay's total of 26 goals through six games is tied with Detroit for the league's lead. The Red Wings have played one more game than the Lightning. Eleven different Lightning skaters have scored goals this season and eight of them have more than one tally. By comparison, Washington has gotten goals from only seven different skaters and has only three players with multiple goals.
The Tampa Bay defense has also solidified in comparison to recent editions. The improvement in that department actually began last season when the Lightning shaved 61 goals off its previous season's total. Not coincidentally, last season was goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin's first full campaign in a Lightning sweater. With Khabibulin in the net for 70 of Tampa Bay's 82 games, the Lightning allowed a franchise low 219 goals in 2001-02.
Khabibulin is a workhorse with a history of good health, but he's the key to the Lightning's playoff hopes this season. He started 67 consecutive games with Phoenix in 1996-97.
The Lightning is reported to have interest in acquiring the services of rugged but injury-prone defenseman Kyle McLaren, who is currently the property of the Boston Bruins. McLaren is a restricted free agent who has requested a trade. Tampa's already improving backline corps would take a significant stride forward with the addition of McLaren.
While the Lightning are off to a fast start and are obviously much improved over recent seasons, there is one caveat that should be issued. Only two of the first 12 games (Carolina and New Jersey) on Tampa Bay's schedule this season are against teams that made the playoffs in 2001-02.
The Capitals have traditionally had an easy time with the Lightning. Only once - in 1997-98 - has Washington lost the season's series to the Lightning. Washington holds a 31-10-6 advantage all time and has outscored the Lightning by 164-100. The Capitals are 16-5-2 all time in Tampa Bay and are 5-1-1 in their last seven trips to the city.
Heading into Thursday night's NHL action, Tampa Bay sports the league's seventh best power play with a 21.7 percent efficiency rate. The Lightning's penalty killing corps has struggled a bit. Its 80.4 percent kill rate ranks 23rd in the league.
Should be lots of forechecking in this game if the style of play for both teams to date continues.