Time: 07:00 P.M. EST Venue: Verizon Center
The Washington Capitals have been one of the NHL's best on the power play, but have had a difficult time offensively of late in even-strength situations. Washington seeks a more well-rounded performance Thursday night when it hosts the New Jersey Devils. The Capitals (39-24-10) own a three-point advantage over surging Ottawa for the Eastern Conference's top wild-card spot and are three points behind Pittsburgh for third place in the Metropolitan Division. They aren't exactly peaking, however, going 6-7-0 over their last 13 while scoring 32 goals. Twenty-two of those scores have come at even strength, an average of 1.7 per game compared to 2.2 previously. They've dropped four of five when failing to score on the power play, including a 3-0 loss in Winnipeg on Saturday. Washington, which ranks second in the league converting on 24.9 percent of its power-play opportunities, was scoreless on three chances. Coach Barry Trotz is hoping his team can use the four days between games to regroup, the club's longest layoff since the All-Star break." To me, we need to continue to get better," Trotz said. "We've talked about A, we have to get in the playoffs. We've got nine games here, we'd like to catch the teams in front of us, but we'd also like to pull away from the teams behind us." Even-strength production could be especially important given that New Jersey has killed 41 of 45 penalties (91.1 percent) over its last 18 games. The Devils (31-31-11) are clinging to microscopic chances of reaching the playoffs, though it appears they will miss out for a third straight year for the first time since a nine-year drought from 1979-1987, which started when the franchise was located in Colorado. They were outshot 33-20 in a 3-1 loss to Los Angeles on Monday. Top goal scorer Michael Cammalleri returned from a two-game absence but didn't record a shot. New Jersey ranks 29th in the league with an average minus-6.5 shot differential, which would surpass the minus-6.4 from 1982-83 as the worst mark in franchise history." We have to look ourselves in the mirror," right wing Jordin Tootoo said. "We're all professionals. We can't wait for the guy next to us to get the job done. You have to bring your work boots every night." The Devils have been outshot in 12 consecutive games but have still won six in that span with Cory Schneider posting a 1.95 goals-against average and two shutouts. Schneider's 2.17 GAA ranks fifth while his 62 starts are third." He's kept us in a lot of games and won us a lot of games," center Travis Zajac told the team's official website. "The work ethic he puts in and the competitiveness he has in practice reminds me of Marty (Brodeur) back there. He has that same mentality." Washington has scored two goals or fewer in four of five at home, while New Jersey has limited its last three road opponents to one goal apiece. The Capitals have won three of the four meetings, outscoring the Devils 14-4 despite only a 113-111 advantage in shots. Braden Holtby is 5-1-1 with a 1.43 GAA and two shutouts in his last seven starts against New Jersey. Alex Ovechkin has seven goals in his last eight meetings and is three shy of his sixth 50-goal season.
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