Surge from defensemen powers Caps to win 8 of 9 originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
It was just one month ago that the Washington Capitals looked disoriented. By the time Thanksgiving rolled around, they had lost nine of 11 games and were looking up at most of the Metropolitan division.
Now, as 2023 creeps closer, they look like a team reborn. The Caps defeated the Ottawa Senators on enemy ice 3-2 in overtime on Thursday evening, increasing their win streak to three games. Washington has won eight of their last nine contests, piggybacking off the spark provided by their defensemen.
It’s not glamorous for an NHL team’s win surge to be credited to defense, but for the Capitals it’s appropriate. Since their 8-of-9 hot streak started with a 3-2 win over Edmonton two weeks ago, Washington hasn’t allowed more than three goals in a game – and both times they did allow three, they still won.
Look to the Ottawa game to find a microcosm of how effective the Caps’ defensive pairings have been over the past few weeks. John Carlson assisted on Evgeny Kuznetsov’s tying tally in the first period on the power play. Next period, Dmitry Orlov (who scored Washington’s OT winner last time out against Detroit) notched a secondary assist on Sonny Milano’s tap-in.
Orlov has been played spectacularly since his return from a lower-body injury that sidelined him for a month, putting up five points and a +4 in six games since.
When the third period rolled around, it looked like the Senators were in control as they pushed for the lead after tying the game at 2. In fact, they were about five millimeters away from making it 3-2. Then Trevor van Riemsdyk appeared.
Just before the second period ended, TvR took a blistering slap shot from Senators’ defenseman Nick Holden off the side of the head. He headed to the locker room and would remain out until the third period. But when he came back, he made arguably the biggest play of the game.
A slapper from the blue line squirted past Darcy Kuemper – who made his return for the first time in nine games as he dealt with an upper-body injury after getting elbowed in the head vs. Calgary – and was trickling past the goal line. Van Riemsdyk somehow swooped in and cleared the puck off the line to keep the game tied.
Washington would hold out for overtime when Marcus Johansson made a swift move into the zone and fired a wrister past Cam Talbot for the win. And who assisted on that goal? You guessed it: the GWG was assisted by a defenseman, Erik Gustafsson.
Not for nothing, Gustafsson has been a revelation for the Capitals this season as well. He’s on a three-game point streak, including his first-ever NHL hat trick which he put up against Toronto last week.
Simply put, the defense has been electric for Washington over their recent string of successes. It seems as though each D-pairing has been adept on both ends of the ice, as a defenseman has registered a point on the last 12 goals scored by the squad, a run that has stretched through the team’s last three games.
Keep in mind, this is all happening while one of the Caps’ brightest young players, D-man Martin Fehervary, remains on injured reserve with an upper-body injury. Washington will look to their defensemen to keep their hot streak alive as they take on Winnipeg on Friday night.
