Leafs, Caps looking for momentum at ACC
Posted January 22, 2011 7:05 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The Washington Capitals seem to be coming to grips with the fact they’re not the offensive juggernaut the league is used to seeing.
If it makes a difference once the postseason rolls around, they’ll be happy to embrace it.
The now-opportunistic Capitals are getting used to winning low-scoring affairs heading into Saturday night’s road game against the Toronto Maple Leafs, who are trying to turn around their own reputation as a team devoid of defence.
Washington (26-14-8) scored 313 goals last season, the most by any team since 1995-96, but all that added up to was a first-round flameout for coach Bruce Boudreau’s club.
The Capitals are a stunning 29th in goals per game since Dec. 1, averaging 2.13. But they’re getting used to winning without Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom piloting a team that rarely slows down offensively.
Washington was 7-12-2 when scoring three goals or fewer through Dec. 18, but since then, the team is 7-2-4 in those games after Thursday’s 2-1 win over the New York Islanders.
Fantasy notes: John Carlson has come up with points in three of his past four from the back end and he’s going to be a special talent in keeper leagues. Phil Kessel has 5-5-10 in 10 GP this month. | Follow Chris Nichols on Twitter
“We’re not scoring, so we’d better be aware of the defensive end,” Boudreau said.
It’s been 12 games since the Caps have scored more than three, but Boudreau doesn’t see a prolonged drought as the worst thing for a club that hasn’t seen its high-scoring tendencies translate into postseason success.
“Eventually they will start scoring again at the rate they are capable,” he said. “If they learn to play defence and then they get the balance with the offence, our team will be in good shape.”
Much of Washington’s offensive drought can be attributed to the struggles of Backstrom, who had gone 21 games without a goal before scoring the game-winner in the second period Thursday off an assist from Ovechkin. Backstrom had 33 goals in 2009-10 and 11 through his first 26 games this season.
Backstrom has never done much offensively versus Toronto (19-22-5), posting two goals in 14 career games. He does, however, have 11 assists.
Ovechkin has only four goals in his last 19 games overall, but he has an eight-game point streak against the Maple Leafs which includes eight goals and 11 assists.
Washington hasn’t had much trouble scoring versus Toronto this season +- the teams have split a pair of shootouts — and the Leafs are giving up 3.26 goals per game since the start of December, fifth-worst in the league.
Ovechkin had two assists in a 5-4 win Nov. 3 and a goal in a 5-4 loss Dec. 6, when the Caps blew a three-goal lead in the third period.
