After losing two straight to the Blue Jackets, the Washington Capitals found their footing and won four straight to close out their first-round series in six games.
The Capitals outscored the Blue Jackets 17-9 in those victories and scored power-play goals in every game of the series.
Barry Trotz is feeling the Capitals vibe and will not make any changes headed into Round Two against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Via the Washington Post’s Isabelle Khurshudyan:
Caps:
Ovechkin-Kuznetsov-Wilson
Stephenson-Backstrom-Boyd (Oshie)
Connolly-Eller-DSP
Vrana-Beagle-ChiassonKempny-Carlson
Orlov-Niskanen
Orpik-Djoos— Isabelle Khurshudyan (@ikhurshudyan) April 25, 2018
The only news of note is that TJ Oshie is still too banged up to practice. It appears he will continue his routine of only taking the ice for games.
That’s a wrap. Game 1️⃣ tomorrow night. #ALLCAPS #CapsPens pic.twitter.com/t55YUr7z99
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) April 25, 2018
The Caps-Pens matchup is the eleventh time the two teams have faced each other in the postseason – a franchise record for Washington. Game One begins at 7 PM on Thursday.
Here are some more Round One notes from the Capitals PR.
- The Capitals defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals in six games to advance to the second round for the seventh time in the last 10 seasons and for the fourth straight season, the longest active streak in the NHL.
- Washington overcame a 2-0 deficit to win a best-of-seven series for just the second time in franchise history.
- The Capitals also became the first team in NHL history to win a best-of-seven series after suffering overtime losses in Games 1 and 2 at home.
- Over those last four playoffs, Nicklas Backstrom leads the Capitals and ranks sixth in the NHL with 40 points (13g, 27a) in 45 games
- Alex Ovechkin leads the Capitals and ranks fourth in the NHL with 20 goals in 45 games.
- Braden Holtby ranks first among goaltenders with at least 25 games in save percentage (.932) and second in goals against average (1.97).
