Thursday, March 28, 2024
Fantasy Guru - Baseball

NHL Preview: Washington Capitals (33-30-7) at Minnesota Wild (39-22-8)

WASHINGTON CAPITALS NOTES:

LAST GAME
Washington 2, St. Louis Blues 5
March 17, 2023 * Capital One Arena * Washington, DC
Shots: WSH: 34; STL: 22
Power Plays: WSH: 1/4; STL: 0/1
Three Stars: 1. Hofer (STL), 2. Blais (STL), 3. Fehervary (WSH)

RECENT TRANSACTIONS
Recalled goaltender Zach Fucale from AHL Hershey, 3/18
Re-assigned forward Bogdan Trineyev from KHL Moscow Dynamo to AHL Hershey, 3/18
Loaned forward Joe Snively to AHL Hershey, 3/16
Recalled forward Joe Snively from AHL Hershey, 3/14
Re-signed defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk to a three-year contract extension, 3/11
Loaned defenseman Vincent Iorio to AHL Hershey, 3/10

INJURIES/ILLNESSES
Carl Hagelin: 10/12/22-3/17/23 (70 games)
Connor Brown: 10/20/22-3/17/23 (66 games)
John Carlson: 10/31/22-11/9/22, 12/27/22-3/17/23 (40 games)
Nick Jensen: 3/4/23-3/9/23, 3/17/23 (4 games)
Marcus Johansson: 2/25/23-2/26/23 (2 games)
Tom Wilson: 10/12/22-1/6/23, 1/26/23-2/16/23 (49 games)
Nicklas Backstrom: 10/12/22-1/6/23, 1/24/22 (43 games)
Dmitry Orlov: 11/7/22-12/9/22 (16 games)
Erik Gustafsson: 12/11/22 (1 game)
Washington Capitals: Media Notes
Lars Eller: 12/13/22 (1 game)
Darcy Kuemper: 12/5/22-12/17/22 (7 games)
Hunter Shepard: 12/17/22 (1 game)
Alex Alexeyev: 12/11/22-12/19/22 (5 games)
Beck Malenstyn: 11/3/22-12/27/22 (26 games)
T.J. Oshie: 10/31/22-11/19/22, 12/19/22-12/31/22 (17 games)
Nic Dowd: 12/17/22, 1/17/23-2/18/23 (13 games)
Anthony Mantha: 2/12/23, 2/23/23-2/26/23 (4 games)
Martin Fehervary: 12/5/22-12/29/22, 3/4/23-3/9/23 (15 games)
Alex Ovechkin: 1/21/23, 3/14/23 (2 games)
Sonny Milano: 12/15/22, 3/14/23-3/15/23 (3 games)
Man Games Lost: 385

UPCOMING SCHEDULE
March 21, 7 p.m. ET vs. Columbus (NBCSW+, 106.7 The Fan/Caps Radio 24/7)
March 23, 7 p.m. ET vs. Chicago (NBCSW, 106.7 The Fan/Caps Radio 24/7)
March 25, 8 p.m. ET at Pittsburgh (ABC, ESPN+, 106.7 The Fan/Caps Radio 24/7)
March 29, 7:30 p.m. ET vs. New York Islanders (TNT, 106.7 The Fan/Caps Radio 24/7)
March 30, 7 p.m. ET at Tampa Bay (NBCSW, 106.7 The Fan/Caps Radio 24/7)

TONIGHTā€™S GAME
The Capitals visit the Minnesota Wild on Sunday at Xcel Energy Center for the second and final meeting between the teams this season. The Capitals received goals from Martin Fehervary and Dylan Strome in their first meeting with the Wild on Jan. 17 at Capital One Arena, a 4-2 loss. Washington is 15-11-0-2 all-time versus Minnesota and have earned at least one point in seven-straight games (6-0-1) at Xcel Energy Center dating back to March 19, 2015.

AWAY vs. MINNESOTA WILD
Record Goals For Goals Against Streak
6-6-0-2 38 37 1 MIN SO win (1/8/22)

CAPITALS vs. WILD ALL-TIME (Career Totals)
Games Goals Assists Points
Smith (41) Ovechkin (17) Backstrom (18) Ovechkin (33)
Oshie (32) Oshie/Smith (11) Ovechkin (16) Oshie (23)
Irwin (22) Kuznetsov/Wilson (4) Oshie (12) Backstrom/Smith (20)

MINNESOTA WILD NOTES:

SERIES NOTES
GAME BROADCASTS
WASHINGTON CAPITALS
All-Time Wild Record: 13-13-2 (8-5-1 at Xcel Energy Center, 5-8-1 at Washington)

2022-23: Minnesota earned a 4-2 victory in the series-opening contest at Capital One Arena (1/17)ā€¦C Connor Dewar (0-2=2) and D Jared Spurgeon (2-0=2) led the Wild with two points eachā€¦C Joel Eriksson Ek (1=0=1) and D Jonas Brodin (1-0=1) also scored goalsā€¦.G Filip Gustavsson stopped 34 of 36 shots faced for Minnesotaā€¦D Martin Fehervary (1-1=2) and LW Alexander Ovechkin (0-2=2) led the Capitals with two points eachā€¦G Charlie Lindgren saved 18 of 21 shots faced for Washington.

WILD LEADERS: LW Gustav Nyquist leads Minnesota with 17 points (7-10=17) in 26 contests against Washingtonā€¦D Alex Goligoski has 11 points (1-10=11) in 24 gamesā€¦RW Mats Zuccarello has 11 points (3-8=11) in 27 contestsā€¦LW Marcus Foligno owns nine points (3-6=9) in 23 games.

WILD GOALIES: G Marc-Andre Fleury is 26-14-2 with a 2.65 GAA, a .911 SV% and four shutouts in 44 games (43 starts) against Washingtonā€¦Gustavsson is 1-1-0 with a 2.97 GAA and a .902 SV% in two games (one start).

CAPITALS LEADERS: Ovechkin leads Washington with 33 points (17-16=33) in 20 games against Minnesotaā€¦RW T.J. Oshie has 23 points (11-12=23) in 32 contestsā€¦C Nicklas Backstrom owns 20 points (2-18=20) in 19 matchesā€¦C Craig Smith has 20 points (11-9=20) in 41 games.

CAPITALS GOALIES: G Darcy Kuemper is 3-5-1 with a 2.89 GAA, a .902 SV% and one shutout in 10 career starts against Minnesotaā€¦Lindgren is 0-2-0 with a 2.60 GAA and a .909 SV% in two career starts.

FAST FACTS: Minnesotaā€™s series sweep in 2021-22 marked the second time in franchise history the Wild has won two games against Washington in the same season (2002-03)ā€¦Seven of Minnesotaā€™s 13 games played at Washington have been decided by one goal (3-3-1)ā€¦Ovechkin netted three PPG on March 28, 2017, the most ever by a Wild opponent

INJURIES
Jonas Brodin: lower body
Brandon Duhaime: upper body
Marcus Foligno: lower body
Kirill Kaprizov: lower body
Jake Middleton: non-COVID illness
Gustav Nyquist: upper body

FINDING THEIR GROOVE
ā€¢ Minnesota is tied for first in the NHL with 28 points since Feb. 11 (12-2-4). The Wildā€™s .778 point percentage during that span (12-2-4) is tied for second in the NHL.

ā€¢ The Wild recorded a franchise-record 14-game point streak (11-0-3) from Feb. 17 to March 15. The streak is tied for the third-longest in the
NHL this season

ā€¢ Since Feb. 11, the Wild leads the NHL with a .935 team save percentage and has allowed a league-low 2.00 goals per game.

HOME SWEET HOME
ā€¢ Dating back to Nov. 19th, Minnesota is 19-6-2 at home for a .741 point percentage, tied for the second-most wins and the fifth-best home point percentage in the NHL during that span.

ā€¢ The team recorded a seven-game home win streak from Nov. 27 – Dec. 18, the fourth-longest home win streak in the NHL this season.

ā€¢ In home games since Nov. 19, the Wild has allowed 2.15 goals per game and recorded a .925 save percentage, ranking second in the NHL in each category.

ā€¢ Minnesota is tied for sixth in the NHL with 21 home victories this season and ranks seventh with a .643 home point percentage.

ON THE POWER PLAY
ā€¢ The Wild has converted 26.9 percent (29 of 108) of power-play opportunities at home this season, sixth-best in the NHL.

ā€¢ Since Jan. 19, Minnesota ranks tied for third in the NHL with 18 powerplay goals.

PENALTY KILLERS
ā€¢ Recorded a streak of 27 consecutive successful penalty kills across 14 total games snapped from 2/6 to 3/2. Did not allow a power-play goal
in 12 consecutive games from 2/8 – 2/28, the longest streak in the NHL this season, tied for the longest streak in franchise history and tied for the 13th-longest streak in the NHLā€™s Expansion Era (since 1967-68 season).

ā€¢ Since Nov. 8, Minnesota is ninth in the NHL with a 82.2 penalty-kill percentage (152 for 185).

SHORT (HANDED) KINGS
ā€¢ Minnesota is tied for fifth in the NHL with nine shorthanded goals this season.

ā€¢ The total is the third-highest in franchise history through a seasonā€™s first 68 games (11 goals in 2000-01 season; 11 in 2001-02 season).

ā€¢ Minnesota has not eclipsed nine shorthanded goals in season since recording doing so during the 2008-09 campaign.

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