Caps Head Home to Host Habs Dec. 27 vs. Montreal Canadiens at Verizon Center
Time: 7:30 pm
TV: Comcast SportsNet
Radio: WTNT 570 AM
Montreal Canadiens (21-9-5)
Washington Capitals (16-13-7)Montreal is the only Eastern Conference foe the Caps have yet to face in 2006-07. That changes on Wednesday when the Habs head into the District for their first Verizon Center visit this season.
On Tuesday night in Buffalo, Washington opened a grueling stretch in which it must play four games in five nights and five in seven. The evening did not go well.
Washington spotted the Sabres half a dozen first period goals in a span of just 9:06, the third quickest six goals in NHL history. It was the first time in Washington franchise history that the Caps surrendered six goals in the first 20 minutes. The Caps came back with a goal in each frame, but fell 6-3.
Just under three years ago (Dec. 31, 2003), the Caps began their most recent stretch of four games in five nights with a 7-1 setback to the Sabres in Buffalo. The Capitals were 0-3-1 in those four games that bridged 2003-04. The spell came in the midst of a seven-game winless streak (0-6-1) for the Caps.
Tuesday?s loss in Buffalo ended Washington?s four-game road winning streak, dropping the Caps? road record to 8-5-4.
The Caps are playing without several regular blueliners, which has necessitated the recent recalls of defensemen Jeff Schultz and Lawrence Nycholat from Hershey of the AHL. Playing in his second game with the Caps on Tuesday in Buffalo, Nycholat picked up his first NHL point when he assisted on Alex Ovechkin?s 25th goal of the season. Nycholat was also one of just two Washington players to finish the night with a ?plus? defensive rating; he was plus-1.
Washington won the first two meetings between the Caps and the Habs in 2005-06, but Montreal took the next two. The Caps did get a point in a Mar. 30 overtime loss to the Canadiens in Montreal.
Each game the Capitals play during this busy week is against an Eastern Conference foe with more standings points than Washington.
The Capitals? power play unit was 14th best in the NHL with a 17.7% success rate going into Tuesday night?s tilt. The Caps were 0-for-4 with the extra man in the Buffalo game. Washington entered the Sabres game 20th in the league in penalty killing with a kill rate of 81.6%. The Caps successfully killed six of seven Buffalo power plays on Tuesday.
While the Caps were forced to awaken early on Tuesday for a trip to Buffalo for Tuesday?s game with the Sabres, Montreal has been idle since suffering a 4-2 loss at Boston on Saturday in the first game of a four-game road trip. While the Caps were going at it with the Sabres, the Habs were relaxing in their Washington hotel rooms in preparation for Wednesday?s game at Verizon.
The loss to the Bruins halted the Habs? five-game winning streak, the team?s longest of the season. Montreal is 9-5-2 on the road this season and is 7-2-2 overall in the month of December, with both regulation losses coming at the hands of the Bruins.
Montreal is off to one of its hottest starts in recent decades, piling up 21 wins in the season?s first 34 games for the first time since the 1978-79 Canadiens did so. That Montreal club went on to win a third consecutive Stanley Cup title. With 47 points in 34 games, the Habs are also off to a better start than the 1992-93 outfit, the most recent Montreal team to win it all.
The Habs pack the league?s most potent power play. Montreal has connected at a rate of 23.5% this season, and they have 38 power play strikes in 34 games.
The Canadiens have been especially deadly with the extra man in the month of December, clicking on 16-of-48 (33.3%) power play chances this month. Montreal has registered multiple power play goals in six of its 11 games this month.
Montreal is second in the circuit with a penalty kill success rate of 88.3%. The Habs also lead the NHL with 11 shorthanded goals.
