It’s not always that the Caps struggle on both ends of the ice but that’s exactly how things turned out for the team on Saturday, when they were handed with a 5-2 road loss by Nashville
Washington remains as the favorite to win the Stanley Cup this year but some concerns might arise if they lost tonight to the Rangers, whom the Capitals haven’t won against in two meetings thus far this season. In the previous showdown between the two eastern conference powers, the Caps lost in Manhattan, 2-1, on Feb. 19. The Caps have lost three of their last five games.
Having said all of that, the Caps bring so much to the table for opponents to chew on and be scared of. For one, the Caps are second in the league in scoring, netting 3.3 goals for per contest. They’re also first defensively, limiting opposing teams to 2.1 goals against per contest. Furthermore, the Caps are ninth overall in puck possession per Corsi metrics with a 50.93 shot attempts percentage. Washington has outshot the Rangers in both meetings this campaign.
Braden Holtby should be back in front of the net for the Washington after ceding the starting duties to Philipp Grubauer in the Nashville game. Holtby is looking to finish February with a strong statement. He is 7-0-1 with a 1.98 GAA and .922 SV% in eight appearances this month.
As unbeatable as Holtby has looked this month, the Rangers could draw confidence from that fact that they’re 6-4 in the last 10 times they’ve faced the Washington netminder. Also included in that span was New York’s 4-2 victory in Washington on Oct. 22 with Henrik Lundqvist on goal.
Lundqvist stopped 26 of 28 Caps shots in that game, while benefitting from the scoring support from New York’s offense.
Having someone like Lundqvist stationed in front of the net for the Rangers effectively offsets the usual advantage Washington enjoys when it starts Holtby. Lundqvist is relishing a strong season, going 28-15-2 with a 2.64 GAA and .912 SV% thus far. He’s posting better numbers this month, as he’s sporting a 7-2-1 record to go with a 2.16 GAA and .932 SV% in 10 starts in February.
The King, however, wasn’t on top of his game on Sunday, when he allowed five goals on 26 shots faced in a 5-2 home loss to Columbus.
The Rangers could match Washington in terms of offense, too. They are averaging 3.27 goals this season. Chris Kreider, Rich Nash, and Michael Grabner all lead the Rangers this month with four goals each. Nash has two goals and assist in his last five games
