GAME NOTES WASHINGTON CAPITALS Vs
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GAME NOTES WASHINGTON CAPITALS vs. CAROLINA HURRICANES Scotiabank Arena – Toronto JULY 29, 2020 4 p.m.: NBCSN/NBCSW, 1500 AM Radio WASHINGTON CAPITALS CAROLINA HURRICANES Forwards Forwards 8 OVECHKIN, Alex (C) 11 STAAL, Jordan (C) 10 SPRONG, Daniel 13 FOEGELE, Warren 13 VRANA, Jakub 14 WILLIAMS, Justin 14 PANIK, Richard 16 TROCHECK, Vincent 16 MAILLET, Philippe 18 DZINGEL, Ryan 17 KOVALCHUK, Ilya 20 AHO, Sebastian 19 BACKSTROM, Nicklas (A) 20 ELLER, Lars 21 NIEDERREITER, Nino 21 HATHAWAY, Garnet 23 McGINN, Brock 24 McMICHAEL, Connor 28 McCORMICK, Max 26 DOWD, Nic 37 SVECHNIKOV, Andrei 43 WILSON, Tom 43 GEEKIE, Morgan 47 MALENSTYN, Beck 48 MARTINOOK, Jordan (A) 62 HAGELIN, Carl 64 BISHOP, Clark 64 PINHO, Brian 78 LORENTZ, Steven 72 BOYD, Travis 86 TERAVAINEN, Teuvo 77 OSHIE, T.J. 88 NECAS, Martin 92 KUZNETSOV, Evgeny Defensemen Defensemen 3 JENSEN, Nick 4 FLEURY, Haydn 4 DILLON, Brenden 6 EDMUNDSON, Joel 6 KEMPNY, Michal 19 HAMILTON, Dougie 9 ORLOV, Dmitry 22 PESCE, Brett (IR) 27 ALEXEYEV, Alexander 24 BEAN, Jake 33 GUDAS, Radko 45 VATANEN, Sami 34 SIEGENTHALER, Jonas 51 GARDINER, Jake 42 FEHERVARY, Martin 55 McKEOWN, Roland 74 CARLSON, John 57 van RIEMSDYK, Trevor 78 LEWINGTON, Tyler 74 SLAVIN, Jaccob (A) 76 SKJEI, Brady Goaltenders 1 COPLEY, Pheonix 41 VANECEK, Vitek Goaltenders 70 HOLTBY, Braden 31 FORSBERG, Anton 34 MRAZEK, Petr 39 NEDELJKOVIC, Alex 47 REIMER, James Senior VP/General Manager Brian MacLellan President & GM Don Waddell Head Coach Todd Reirden Head Coach Rod Brind’Amour Assistant Coach Scott Arniel Assistant Coach Jeff Daniels Assistant Coach Reid Cashman Assistant Coach Dean Chynoweth Assistant Coach Blaine Forsythe Goaltending Coach Jason Muzzatti Goaltending Coach Scott Murray Video Coach Chris Huffine Assistant Coach/Video Brett Leonhardt Video Analyst Tim Ohashi 2020 Washington Capitals Round Robin Schedule Date Opponent Location Time/Result (ET) TV Radio __ Mon., Aug. 3 @ Tampa Bay Scotiabank Arena 4 p.m. NBCSW/NBCSN 106.7 FM, Caps Radio 24/7 Thurs., Aug 6 @ Philadelphia Scotiabank Arena TBD NBCSW 106.7 FM, Caps Radio 24/7 Sun., Aug. 9 Boston Scotiabank Arena TBD TBD TBD/Caps Radio 24/7 Contacts Washington Capitals Sergey Kocharov, Vice President of Communications, 202.266.2356 627 North Glebe Road, Suite 850 Tommy Chalk, Manager of Media Relations and Content, 202.266.2357 Arlington, VA 22203 Megan Eichenberg, Senior Manager of Communications and Publicity, 202.266.2310 202.266.2200 T * 202.266.2360 F Chase Pyke, Assistant Manager of Media Relations, 202.266.2299 CapitalsToday.com Washington Capitals vs. Carolina – 7.29.20 Washington Capitals Preseason Notes HOCKEY IN JULY – The Capitals face the Carolina Hurricanes in an exhibition game at Scotiabank Arena on Wednesday. The game preludes Washington’s Round Robin play that begins on Aug. 3 against the Tampa Bay Lightning. It marks the Capitals first game since March 9 against the Buffalo Sabres, a span of 143 days, and the first time in franchise history the Capitals have played a game in the month of July. In addition, it marks the earliest game – including preseason, regular season and the playoffs – in franchise history. Previously, the earliest game the Capitals had played was on Sept. 12, 1989 when the Capitals faced Farjestad BK in Karlstad, Sweden (7-4 loss). METRO WINNERS – The Capitals finished first in the Metropolitan Division, marking their fifth consecutive division title, the first time in franchise history they have accomplished the feat. The Capitals became the eighth franchise in NHL history to win five consecutive division titles and the first since the Anaheim Ducks from 2012-13 to 2016-17. END OF A RARE STREAK – From 2014-15 to 2018-19, the Capitals recorded five consecutive 100-point seasons, the only active team in the NHL with as many during that time. With 90 points in 69 games before the suspension-shortened 2019-20 season, the Capitals were again on pace to reach the 100- point mark. Had they reached 100 points, the Capitals would have become the fourth franchise in NHL history to reach the mark six consecutive times, joining the Detroit Red Wings (12 times: 1999-00 to 2011-12), the Montreal Canadiens (eight times: 1974-75 to 1981-82) and the Edmonton Oilers (1981-82 to 1986-87). Team Streak Started Streak Ended Total Seasons Detroit Red Wings 1999-00 2011-12 12 Montreal Canadiens 1974-75 1981-82 8 Edmonton Oilers 1981-82 1986-87 6 Over the last six seasons, the Capitals are 294-135-50, and have recorded the most points in the NHL during that time span, while their 1,512 goals are second and their 1,256 goals against are tied for fourth. ANOTHER ROCKET – Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin, who extended his NHL record with his ninth career Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy as the NHL’s top goal scorer, scored 48 goals this season and was on pace for 57 goals, which would have been the second-highest total of his career, his highest total since 2007-08 (65g) and the ninth time Ovechkin would have reached the 50-goal mark. Ovechkin was on pace to join Wayne Gretzky and Mike Bossy as the only players in NHL history with nine 50-goal seasons. He would have also joined Phil Esposito as the only players in NHL history to record at least three 50-goal seasons after their 30th birthday (Esposito: four). Additionally, Ovechkin would have become the second-oldest player in NHL history to record a 50- goal season, only trailing Johnny Buyck (35 years, 308 days old at the conclusion of the 1970-71 season). Ovechkin is entering his 12th career postseason, where he currently ranks first among active players in playoff goals per game (65g in 128 games, 0.51 goals per game) and third in points per game (0.98 points per game). Ovechkin’s 128 career playoff games are tied for 16th among active players. JOHNNY FOR NORRIS – John Carlson is one of three finalists for the Norris Trophy, which is presented annually to the top defenseman in the NHL. Carlson joins Nashville’s Roman Josi and Tampa Bay’s Victor Hedman as the three finalists. Carlson is aiming for his first career Norris Trophy as the NHL’s top defenseman. Carlson could become the second player in franchise history to claim the prestigious award since Rod Langway in 1982-83 and 1983- 84. Carlson’s 75 points in 69 games this season (15g, 60a) led all defensemen, 10 points ahead Josi and 20 points ahead of Hedman, who finished second and third among defensemen in points, respectively. Carlson is the eighth defenseman in NHL history to hold a 10 point lead over the next highest scoring defenseman and a 20 point lead over the third highest scoring defenseman and the first since Erik Karlsson (Ottawa) in 2011-12. Karlsson won the Norris Trophy that season. Carlson enters the 2019-20 playoffs as the Capitals’ all-time leader among defensemen in playoff points (60), goals (18) and games (107). COMEBACK KIDS – During the 2019-20 season, the Capitals won 21 games after trailing by at least one goal at some point in the game, tied with the St. Louis Blues for the most instances in the NHL. Washington also held a 17-16-3 record when they allowed the game’s first goal, the second-highest win percentage in the NHL (.472). Additionally, the Capitals’ 11-12-3 record when trailing after the first period marked the second-highest win percentage in the NHL (.423), while their 9-17-2 record when trailing after the second period marked the highest win percentage in the NHL (.321). The Capitals are the only team in the NHL that ranked in the top two in each of the three categories. PENALTY S-KILL – The Capitals penalty kill ranked sixth in the NHL, killing 199 of the 241 penalties they faced (82.6 percent). That’s a 3.7 percent improvement from last year’s penalty kill (78.9 percent), which ranked 24th in the NHL. The Capitals allowed 42.22 shots per 60 minutes of penalty kill time this season, the second lowest rate in the NHL. Jonas Siegenthaler (203:46), Radko Gudas (172:16) and Carl Hagelin (169:30) led the Capitals in penalty kill ice time, and all three established full time roles with the Capitals within the last year. Additionally, Nick Jensen’s 2.98 power play goals against per 60 minutes of penalty kill time ranked first in the NHL among players with at least 120 minutes played on the penalty kill this season. Washington Capitals vs. Carolina – 7.29.20 SAT% - This season, the Capitals’ 51.6 shot attempt percentage at five-on-five was the third-highest total since the NHL began tracking the data in 2009-10 (2009-10: 52.8 shot attempt percentage; 2016-17: 51.8 shot attempt percentage). Lars Eller led the Capitals with a 55.8 shot attempt percentage at five-on- five (908 shot attempts for, 717 against), which was the third-highest percentage by a Capital since the NHL began recording the data in 2009-10 (Alex Ovechkin, 2009-10: 57.6 shot attempt percentage; Nicklas Backstrom, 2009-10: 56.5 shot attempt percentage). SWEET NICKY - Nicklas Backstrom enters the 2019-20 playoffs ranked first on the franchise’s playoff assist list (70) and second in games played (123), goals (36) and points (106). His four playoff overtime goals are the most in franchise history, and no other player has more than two. Backstrom is one of just four active players with at least four playoff overtime goals (Patrick Kane: 5; Corey Perry and Patrick Marleau: 4).