New Jersey Devils (9-10-4 22pts) v. Washington Capitals (14-7-3 31pts)
Time: 7p EST
Station: NBC Sports Washington+, MSG+, and NHL Network
Preview:
The Washington Capitals enter their weekend homestand on a 6 game winning streak as they take on the New Jersey Devils, who last time these two teams met whitewashed the Capitals 6-0. However, in their past six games the Devils have only won one game (1-2-3), and are looking to turn things around for them.
For the Capitals, they have been 7-1-0 since the return of Tom Wilson from suspension, and without key players TJ Oshie and Evgeny Kuznetsov who are both out due to concussions, but with the promising prospect of gaining Kuznetsov back, that could add a kick to the Capitals powerplay that has struggled during these winning times.
CAPS TODAY: Nic Dowd is on a three game point streak for the third time in his career and his first two game goal streak. More info on Dowd and the Caps at https://t.co/HecIC0ECg1 pic.twitter.com/vT6EiG1vA1
— Capitals PR (@CapitalsPR) November 29, 2018
GAME NOTES: The Capitals return home Friday night to face the New Jersey Devils. https://t.co/a5SU9HNhmw pic.twitter.com/LEpmgVvySv
— Capitals PR (@CapitalsPR) November 29, 2018
New Jersey Devils:
Projected Lineup:
#NJDevils in practice today:
Hall-Hischier-Bratt
Johansson-Zacha-Palmieri
Coleman-Zajac-Noesen
Boyle-Seney-WoodGreene-Severson
Yakovelv-Vatanen
Butcher-Lovejoy
Santini-MuellerKinkaid/Schneider (in no particular order)
— Amanda Stein (@amandacstein) November 29, 2018
Keys to the Game:
1. Need to play with urgency
When the Devils first played the Capitals, they played a very strong game that showed the team’s urgency to win battles and create scoring opportunities. They will need to find that urgency if they hope to replicate their previous victory as they are facing a more focused Capitals team.
Washington Capitals:
Projected Lineup:
This indicates to me that Boyd will be the odd guy out if/when Ovechkin plays tomorrow. https://t.co/CjXtVtIKFp
— Isabelle Khurshudyan (@ikhurshudyan) November 29, 2018
Capitals Notes:
From the Capitals:
Alex Ovechkin won’t skate today. Maintenance for an upper-body injury. He skated yesterday.
Kempny, Smith-Pelly and Kuznetsov are all scheduled to skate. Kuznetsov (concussion) has not been medically cleared yet, so this is just another step for him.
— Isabelle Khurshudyan (@ikhurshudyan) November 29, 2018
Reirden expects Ovechkin, Smith-Pelly and Kempny to all play tomorrow.
Less sure on Kuznetsov, who hasn’t been cleared yet, but as I tweeted earlier, he looked fairly full-go in practice today.
— Isabelle Khurshudyan (@ikhurshudyan) November 29, 2018
Keys to the Game:
1. Get a good start
I feel like we have to say this all the time now being how the Capitals keep starting slow and then getting better as the game goes on. This is a trend that needs to bucked by the Capitals and start stronger than they have.
2. Get the powerplay rolling
Lately the powerplay has not been a strong suit for the Capitals, and while many will blame the lack of players like TJ Oshie and Evgeny Kuznetsov, even before they were injured the powerplay was starting to get faulty. They have been having difficulty entering the zone and they have been over passing as well, and they just need to get the puck in the zone and just simplify everything.
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