Kings visit Capitals in battle
WASHINGTON -- Before the big game kicks off Sunday, the Washington Capitals try to keep alive the Verizon Center's impressive winning streak during their traditional Super Bowl matinee.
The Capitals won eight straight at home dating back to Dec. 29. Combined with the Washington Wizards' 16-game home winning streak in the NBA, neither of the professional denizens of the building lost in 2017.
Sunday's game against the Los Angeles Kings begins a four-game stretch at home for Washington, which leads the NHL with 76 points after defeating Montreal 3-2 on Saturday afternoon.
"We have to play a team that's been hot in L.A.," Capitals coach Barry Trotz told reporters in Montreal. "They're starting to roll. It's a good test for us."
Right winger Justin Williams returned to Washington's lineup Saturday after missing a game with a lower-body injury just in time to face the team for which he played seven seasons, winning two Stanley Cups. After a slow start, Williams has 17 goals and 29 points to help the Capitals' offense.
"The puck has started going in for him," Trotz said. "If you stay on it, everything sort of evens out. If you keep doing the right things over and over and over again, at the end of the year, analytically, it will measure out the way it's supposed to be. He's a true pro."
Washington continues to get production from all four lines, making them a difficult team to defend against, a point of pride for guys like center Jay Beagle, who scored his career-high 11th goal Saturday.
"When you can kind of take that burden off the top two lines that they don't have to score every night for us to get on the board, that's huge," Beagle told reporters. "We talked about it a lot after the last couple of years, the fourth line, just take it on yourself to be more offensive."
The Kings play their second contest on a four-game road swing after picking up a thrilling 1-0 overtime victory in Philadelphia on Saturday thanks to Jeff Carter's 27th goal of the season. Los Angeles won five in a row by returning to the kind of gritty hockey for which it is known.
"We're a defensive minded team. That's how we win games and we know that," Carter said on TV after his ninth game-winning goal. "We're comfortable in low-scoring, tight-checking games and I think as the season has gone on, we're starting to get back to that identity."
Los Angeles is 10-1 in overtime this season, but hope to avoid the extra period with a strong outing against the Capitals. Goaltender Peter Budaj has a league-leading seven shutouts, filling in admirably for the injured Jonathan Quick, who has started working out in the hopes of returning from his groin injury.
"Obviously along with how well he's playing it's a big testament to how well our team's playing in general just defensively," Kings defenseman Drew Doughty said of Budaj. "Our whole team is working really hard to keep pucks out of the net and that's why we're putting up the zeroes."
Before the game, the Capitals will honor forward Alexander Ovechkin for reaching 1,000 points in the NHL. Ovechkin accomplished the feat Jan. 11 and was the 24th-fastest player in league history to reach the 1,000-point milestone.
