WASHINGTON CAPITALS NOTES:
LAST GAME
Washington 2, Vegas Golden Knights 3 (OT)
November 1, 2022 * Capital One Arena * Washington, D.C.
Shots: WSH: 21; VGK: 31
Power Plays: WSH: 1/2; VGK: 1/2
Three Stars: 1. Theodore (VGK), 2. Lindgren (WSH), 3. Strome (WSH)
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
Recalled forwards Sonny Milano and Garrett Pilon and defenseman Lucas Johansen from AHL Hershey, 11/2
INJURIES/ILLNESSES
Nicklas Backstrom: 10/12-11/1 (11 games)
Carl Hagelin: 10/12-11/1 (11 games)
Tom Wilson: 10/12-11/1 (11 games)
Connor Brown: 10/20/22-11/1/22 (7 games)
T.J. Oshie: 10/31/22-11/1/22 (2 games)
John Carlson: 10/31/22-11/1/22 (2 games)
Man Games Lost: 44
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
Nov. 5, 7 p.m. ET vs. Arizona (NBCSW, 106.7 The Fan/Caps Radio 24/7)
Nov. 7, 8 p.m. ET vs. Edmonton (NBCSW, 106.7 The Fan/Caps Radio 24/7)
Nov. 9, 7:30 p.m. ET vs. Pittsburgh (TNT, 106.7 The Fan/Caps Radio 24/7)
Nov. 11, 7 p.m. ET vs. Tampa Bay (NBCSW, NHLN, 106.7 The Fan/Caps Radio 24/7)
Nov. 13, 7 p.m. ET at Tampa Bay (ESPN, 106.7 The Fan/Caps Radio 24/7)
TONIGHT’S GAME
The Capitals visit the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday at Little Caesars Arena for the first of three meetings between the teams this season. The Capitals have earned points in fifteen-straight games vs. Detroit (12-0-3), dating back to Nov. 18, 2015. In addition, Washington has won six-straight games at Detroit and have a record of 6-0-0 at Little Caesars Arena. In 2021-22, Washington won the season series with Detroit 2-0-1, outscoring the Red Wings 7-4 in three games. Alex Ovechkin (3g, 1a) and Evgeny Kuznetsov (2g, 2a) led the Capitals with four points each against Detroit last season.
AWAY vs. DETROIT RED WINGS
Record Goals For Goals Against Streak
25-23-11 177 192 6 WSH wins (10/20/17-
12/31/21)
CAPITALS vs. RED WINGS ALL-TIME (CAREER TOTALS)
Games Goals Assists Points
Oshie (39) Ovechkin (22) Backstrom (20) Ovechkin (35)
Ovechkin (30) Oshie (10) Carlson (14) Backstrom (24)
Johansson/Eller (26) Strome/Kuznetsov (5) Ovechkin/Kuznetsov (13) Oshie (21)
POINT STREAKS
Alex Ovechkin – 3 game point streak (2g, 1a)
Dylan Strome – 3 game point streak (1g, 2a)
TOP CAPS FACTS
Terrific Tandem
- The Capitals’ goaltending duo of Darcy Kuemper and Charlie Lindgren have combined to post a .914 team save percentage this season, which ranks eighth in the NHL.
- The Capitals have posted a .930 team save percentage at five-on-five through 11 games, which also ranks eighth in the NHL.
- Excluding empty net goals, both goaltenders have combined for a 2.56 goals-against average and a .921 save percentage.
- Kuemper has a record of 4-3-1 with a 2.39 goals-against average and .922 save percentage in eight games this season, while Lindgren has a record of 1-1-1 with a 3.03 goals-against average and .919 save percentage in three games.
- The Capitals and the Vegas Golden Knights are the only teams in the NHL to have two goaltenders with save percentages above .910 this season (minimum two games played).
- Over his last three starts, Kuemper has posted a 1.33 goals-against average and a .958 save percentage with one shutout.
- Among goaltenders with at least eight games played this season, Kuemper ranks second in the NHL in save percentage (.922) and third in goals-against average (2.39). Team save percentage statistics courtesy of Natural Stat Trick
HistOvi
- Alex Ovechkin recorded an assist on Tuesday against Vegas, extending his point streak to three games (2g, 1a).
- Ovechkin, who has recorded nine points (5g, 4a) in 11 games this season, is two points shy of passing Adam Oates (1,420) for the
19th-most points in NHL history. - Ovechkin now sits 17 goals shy of passing Gordie Howe (801) for second place on the NHL’s all-time goals list and two goals shy of
passing Howe’s mark for the most goals scored by a player with a single franchise (Howe: 786 goals with Detroit). - Ovechkin has recorded 35 points (22g, 13a) in 30 career games against the Red Wings. Ovechkin’s 0.73 goals per game vs. Detroit is
the fourth-highest rate he has recorded against a single franchise (vs. Minnesota: 0.89 G/GP; vs. St. Louis: 0.82 G/GP; vs. Toronto:
0.76 G/GP).
Top-5 Dima
- Dmitry Orlov is expected to play in his 655th career game on Thursday against Detroit. Orlov will pass Sergei Gonchar (654) for the
fifth-most games played by a defenseman in franchise history.
MOST GAMES PLAYED BY A DEFENSEMEN IN CAPITALS FRANCHISE HISTORY
Player GP G A P +/-
- Calle Johansson 983 113 361 474 +47
- John Carlson 896 134 465 599 +98
- Rod Langway 726 25 177 202 +116
- Kevin Hatcher 685 149 277 426 -9
- Dmitry Orlov 655 57 185 242 +105
- Sergei Gonchar 654 144 272 416 +51
- Among defensemen in franchise history, Orlov ranks second in plus/minus (+105), ninth in assists (185) and points (242), and 10th in goals (57).
- Orlov has played in 535 of Washington’s 546 regular season games since 2015-16, the most on the team in that span.
- Orlov’s five assists this season rank fourth on the Capitals.
- Orlov was selected by the Capitals in the second round, 55th overall, in the 2009 NHL Draft.
Super Strome
- Dylan Strome recorded two assists on Tuesday against Vegas, marking his second multi-assist game of the season and the 20th of his career.
- Strome has recorded nine points (2g, 7a) in 11 games this season. Strome leads Washington in assists and is tied with Alex Ovechkin for the team lead in points.
- Strome’s five power play points (1g, 4a) are also tied with Alex Ovechkin for the most on the Capitals.
- Through 11 games, Strome is averaging 18:14 of ice time, which ranks second among Capitals forwards (Alex Ovechkin: 20:02). Prior to the start of this season, Strome had averaged 16:02 of ice time per game in his career.
Nick of Time
- Nick Jensen leads the Capitals in shorthanded ice time per game (2:42) and ranks third on the team in total ice time per game (20:41).
- On Monday against Carolina, Jensen logged 26:02 of ice time, the fourth highest single-game total of his career and the highest since joining the Capitals in February 2019.
- Jensen has recorded seven points (1g, 6a) in 11 games this season, which ranks tied for third on Washington.
- Jensen’s six assists are tied with Evgeny Kuznetsov for the second most on the team.
- Jensen has been on the ice for 11 of Washington’s 21 goals for at five-on-five this season, the most of any Capitals skater.
- Through 11 games, Jensen has recorded a 64.71 goals for percentage at five-on-five (11 goals for, six against), which ranks tied for third in the NHL among defensemen with at least 180 minutes of ice time at five-on-five (courtesy of Natural Stat Trick).
- Jensen, who was drafted by Detroit in the fifth round, 150th overall, in the 2009 NHL Draft, played 190 games with the Red Wings from 2016-17 to 2018-19.
Lavi Moving Up
- Capitals head coach Peter Laviolette recorded his 722nd career win on Oct. 29 against Nashville, tying him with Alain Vigneault (722) for the eighth-most wins in NHL history.
- Laviolette has a career record of 722-470-25-142 (.593 point percentage) and a 85-45-19 (.634 point percentage) record with Washington.
- Laviolette’s career .593 point percentage is the fourth highest among the NHL’s top-10 winningest coaches all-time (Scotty Bowman: .657; Joel Quenneville: .612; Ken Hitchcock: .599).
- Among active head coaches with 1,000 or more games coached, only Bruce Boudreau’s career point percentage is higher (.632).
Road Warriors
- The Capitals are allowing 2.50 goals against per game on the road this season, which ranks tied for fourth in the NHL.
- Washington has a road record of 46-20-9 since the 2020-21 season, good for the most wins, points (101) and point percentage (.673)
in that span.
Did You Know?
- The Capitals have killed off 19 of 21 power plays (90.5 percent) over their last six games, dating back to Oct. 22. During that span, Washington’s 90.5 penalty kill percentage ranks second in the NHL.
- Washington’s 339 hits this season are the most in the NHL.
- Eighteen of the 22 skaters the Capitals have dressed this season have recorded at least one point.
DETROT RED WINGS NOTES:
LAST GAME
RED WINGS 3 at BUFFALO 8 (10/31/22)
1ST PERIOD: BUF Thompson (Skinner, Fitzgerald) 16:52-EV
2ND PERIOD: DET Määttä (Copp, Hronek) 1:26-EV; BUF Quinn (Thompson, Okposo) 5:22-EV; BUF Skinner (Thompson) 14:26-EV;
BUF Thompson (Tuch, Okposo) 18:30-PP; DET Perron (Veleno, Seider) 19:03-EV
3RD PERIOD: DET Larkin (unassisted) 4:19-SH; BUF Dahlin (Mittelstadt, Thompson) 12:53-PP; BUF Cozens (Power, Peterka) 14:47-
EV; BUF Thompson (Skinner, Dahlin) 15:58-EV; BUF Asplund (Krebs, Girgensons) 19:21-EV
SHOTS: DET 18 (6-9-3) / BUF 46 (14-15-17)
GOALIES: DET Nedeljkovic (L, 38-46) / BUF Comrie (W, 15-18)
PP: DET 0-1 / BUF 2-5
MAN GAMES LOST (games missed / out since)
Robby Fabbri – lower body (9 / Oct. 10)
Tyler Bertuzzi – upper body (7 / Oct. 15)
Jakub Vrána – personal (7 / Oct. 17)
Oskar Sundqvist – upper body (3 / Oct. 27)
Michael Rasmussen – suspension (2 / Oct. 29)
Total Man Games Lost: 28
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
11/2 – Reassigned goaltender Victor Brattström to Grand Rapids from Toledo (ECHL) … Reassigned goaltender Sebastian Cossa
from Grand Rapids to Toledo (ECHL)
11/1 – Assigned forward Givani Smith to Grand Rapids
TONIGHT’S GAME
RED WINGS vs. CAPITALS / 7:00 P.M. EDT / LITTLE CAESARS ARENA / TV: BSD / RADIO: WXYT 97.1 FM
TONIGHT: 124th all-time meeting, 64th in Detroit … First of three games this season, only game at Little Caesars Arena ALL-TIME vs. WSH: 51-51-16-5 / HOME: 27-22-11-3 / LAST 10: 2-7-1 / IN 2021-22: 1-2-0 / THIS SEASON: 0-0-0 DET top scorers vs. WSH: David Perron (2-11-13 in 21 GP), Dylan Larkin (3-6-9 in 16 GP), Dominik Kubalík (2-1-3 in 3 GP), Pius Suter (1-1-2 in 3 GP)
WSH top scorers vs. DET: Alex Ovechkin (22-13-35 in 30 GP), T.J. Oshie (10-11-21 in 39 GP), Evgeny Kuznetsov (5-13-18 in 17 GP), John Carlson (4-14-18 in 25 GP), Dylan Strome (5-9-14 in 13 GP), Marcus Johansson (4-10-14 in 26 GP), Erik Gustafsson (0-6-6 in 8 GP), Anthony Mantha (0-1-1 in 1 GP)
UPCOMING GAMES
Saturday, Nov. 5: RED WINGS vs. ISLANDERS / 1:00 p.m. EDT / LITTLE CAESARS ARENA / TV: BSD / RADIO: WXYT 97.1 FM
Sunday, Nov. 6: RED WINGS at RANGERS / 5:00 p.m. EST / Madison Square Garden / TV: BSD / RADIO: WXYT 97.1 FM
Tuesday, Nov. 8: RED WINGS vs. CANADIENS / 7:00 p.m. EST / LITTLE CAESARS ARENA / TV: BSD / RADIO: WXYT 97.1 FM
LAST TIME OUT
Oct. 31 at Buffalo – 8-3 L
Detroit fell at Buffalo to move to 4-3-2 overall … The result marked Detroit’s first defeat against Buffalo since Feb. 11, 2020, snapping a run of four-consecutive heads-to-head victories … The result was also Detroit’s first loss on Halloween since Oct. 31, 2000 at Washington, ending a five-game winning streak on that holiday … In all, the Red Wings are 12-8-4-0 on Halloween … Olli Määttä put Detroit on the board with his second goal of the season … Filip Hronek recorded an assist on Määttä’s goal, giving him six helpers in his last eight games … David Perron netted his fifth goal of the season in the final minute of the second period … Dylan Larkin also scored his fifth goal of the season and first shorthanded tally since Oct. 30, 2018 at Columbus … It marked Larkin’s sixth career shorthanded goal, tying Doug Brown, John Chabot, Pavel Datsyuk, Reed Larson, Keith Primeau and Norm Ullman for 24th place on the franchise’s all-time list … Larkin’s goal was the 152nd of his NHL career, tying Ray Sheppard for 23rd place on the franchise’s all-time list … Additionally, Larkin boosted his career totals to 369 points (152-217-369 in 513 GP), making him one point shy of tying Johan Franzén (187-183-370 in 602 GP) for 22nd place in franchise history … Gustav Lindström skated in his 100th career NHL game.
HOW THEY GOT THEIR WINGS
Drafted (11): Tyler Bertuzzi (IR, 58th overall/2013), Dylan Larkin (15th overall/2014), Filip Hronek (53rd overall/2016), Michael Rasmussen (9th overall/2017), Gustav Lindström (38th overall/2017), Filip Zadina (6th overall/2018), Joe Veleno (30th overall/2018), Moritz Seider (6th overall/2019), Givani Smith (46th overall/2016), Elmer Söderblom (159th overall/2019), Lucas Raymond (4th overall/2020) Free Agency (9): Jordan Oesterle (July 2021), Pius Suter (July 2021), Ben Chiarot (July 2022), Andrew Copp (July 2022), Robert Hägg (July 2022), Dominik Kubalík (July 2022), Matt Luff (July 2022), Olli Määttä (July 2022), David Perron (July 2022) Trade (6): Adam Erne (August 2019), Robby Fabbri (IR, November 2019), Jakub Vrána (April 2021), Alex Nedeljkovic (July 2021), Oskar Sundqvist (March 2022), Ville Husso (July 2022)
EARLY RETURNS
Detroit forwards Andrew Copp, Dominik Kubalík and David Perron, and defensemen Ben Chiarot, Robert Hägg and Olli Määttä have made an immediate impact to begin the 2022-23 season. The six players, all signed as free agents by the Red Wings in July, have combined for 30 points (12-18-30) through the first nine games of the campaign.
- Ben Chiarot recorded a goal and an assist on Oct. 15 at New Jersey.
- Andrew Copp tallied an assist in his Red Wings debut on Oct. 14 vs. Montreal. He also picked up an assist on Oct. 15 at New Jersey and Oct. 31 at Buffalo.
- Robert Hägg ranks among the team leaders with 23 hits (2nd) and 11 blocks (3rd). He logged an assist on Oct. 21 at Chicago and Oct. 25 vs. New Jersey.
- Dominik Kubalík is tied for the team lead with 11 points (4-7-11) through nine games. He recorded multiple points in four-consecutive games from Oct. 17-25, including a power play goal and two assists on Oct. 23 vs. Anaheim.
- Olli Määttä is tied for the team lead among Detroit blueliners with six points (2-4-6) in nine games. He began the season with a four-game point streak from Oct. 14-21, becoming the first Red Wings defenseman to record a point in each of the first four-plus games of the season since Brian Rafalski in 2008-09 (1-8-9 in 7 GP).
- David Perron is tied for the team lead with five goals and two power play markers. He also leads the Red Wings with two game-winning goals. The 16-year NHL veteran picked up two goals and an assist on Oct. 17 vs. Los Angeles.
MAKING A POINT
- The 2022-23 season is the first in the NHL’s expansion era (since 1967-68) that the Red Wings were the last team to suffer a regulation loss, with the last such occurrence coming in 1962-63 when Detroit started 8-0-2 (the 2 designating ties) before its first defeat on Nov. 8, 1962 against Montreal.
- Detroit opened the season with a five-game point streak (3-0-2) for the eighth time in franchise history and just the fourth time in the NHL’s expansion era (see full list on next page):
SEASON RECORD GP POSTSEASON RESULT
2022-23 3-0-2 5 TBD
2011-12 5-0-0 5 Lost in Western Conference Quarterfinals (NSH)
1997-98 5-0-1 6 Won Stanley Cup (WSH)
1972-73 6-0-0 6 Did not qualify
1962-63 8-0-2 10 Lost in Stanley Cup Final (TOR)
1959-60 5-0-1 6 Lost in NHL Semifinals (TOR)
1956-57 5-0-2 7 Lost in NHL Semifinals (BOS)
1948-49 4-0-1 5 Lost in Stanley Cup Final (TOR)
CZECH MATE
- Dominik Kubalík logged four-straight multi-point games from Oct. 17-25 (3-6-9 in 4 GP). The last Detroit skater with five-consecutive multi-point outings was Johan Franzén from March 15-24, 2009 (4-7-11 in 5 GP)
- Recorded eight points (3-5-8) through his first five games with Detroit. The last skater to record more points through their first five career contests with the franchise was Paul Coffey (2-8-10 in 5 GP) in 1992-93.
- Over the past 10 years, only three players recorded more points through their first five contests with any NHL club: John Tavares (6-4-10 with Toronto in 2018-19), Matt Duchene (2-7-9 with Nashville in 2019-20) and Zach Parise (5-4-9 with Minnesota in 2012-13).
LOVE TO ‘C’ IT
- Dylan Larkin enters his third season as Detroit’s captain and eighth NHL campaign. He was named the 37th captain in franchise history on Jan. 13, 2021, becoming the first Michigander and native metro Detroiter to wear the ‘C’ for the Red Wings, assuming a captaincy that had been vacant for two seasons following the end of Henrik Zetterberg’s career in 2017-18 due to injury.
- Has recorded 11 points (5-6-11) and a plus-three rating through nine games to begin the 2022-23 campaign.
- With a shorthanded goal on Oct. 31 at Buffalo, he boosted his career totals to 369 points (152-217-369 in 513 GP), putting him one point behind Johan Franzén (187-183-370 in 602 GP) for 22nd on the franchise’s all-time points list (see list below):
- Vyacheslav Kozlov – 415 career points with Detroit
- Igor Larionov – 392
- Johan Franzén – 370
- Dylan Larkin – 369
- Marcel Dionne – 366
- Shawn Burr – 362
CAPTAIN CLUTCH
- Dylan Larkin opened the scoring with a power play goal on Oct. 23 vs. Anaheim, marking his 150th career goal in his 509th game with the Red Wings.
- Among players to debut with the franchise, only four skaters have reached the 150-goal mark in fewer games over the past 25 years: Henrik Zetterberg (350 GP on March 25, 2008), Vyacheslav Kozlov (440 GP on Feb. 21, 1999), Johan Franzen (472 GP on April 7, 2012) and Pavel Datsyuk (477 GP on Dec. 20, 2008).
- Tallied his 152nd career NHL goal on Oct. 31 at Buffalo, tying Ray Sheppard for 23rd place on the franchise’s all-time list (see list
below):
- Mickey Redmond – 177 career goals with Detroit
- Red Kelly – 162
- Kris Draper – 158
T23. Dylan Larkin – 152
T23. Ray Sheppard – 152 - Bruce MacGregor – 151
ALFIE GETS THE CALL
- Daniel Alfredsson was elected to Hockey Hall of Fame Honored Membership in the Player Category on June 27.
- Played the final season of his 18-year NHL career in Detroit, tying for the team lead in scoring with 49 points (18-31-49) in 68 games during the 2013-14 campaign.
- Won a gold medal with Sweden at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, alongside five Detroit skaters: Tomas Holmström, Niklas Kronwall, Nicklas Lidström, Mikael Samuelsson and Henrik Zetterberg.
- Will be formally inducted on Nov. 14 with Herb Carnegie (Builder), Roberto Luongo, Riikka Sallinen, Daniel Sedin and Henrik Sedin.
FIL THE THRILL
- Filip Hronek picked up an assist in his 250th career NHL game on Oct. 23 vs. Anaheim.
- Tied a career high with an assist in four-straight games from Oct. 15-23 (0-4-4 in 4 GP), matching his assist streaks from March 31-April 6, 2019 (1-4-5 in 4 GP) and March 9-16, 2021 (0-7-7 in 4 GP).
- Also recorded his 100th career NHL assist on Dylan Larkin’s power play goal on Oct. 21 at Chicago.
- Among defensemen, Hronek needed the fifth-fewest games from the start of his NHL career to reach 100 assists with the Red Wings (see list below):
Reed Larson – 185 games to reach the 100-assist mark with Detroit
Nicklas Lidström – 194
Yves Racine – 222
Niklas Kronwall – 248
Filip Hronek – 249
Willie Huber – 258
GRAND OPENING
- Detroit began the 2022-23 season with a 3-0 victory over Montreal on Oct. 14, marking the Red Wings’ first shutout victory in a home opener since a 4-0 decision on Oct. 9, 2015 vs. Toronto.
- In all, the Red Wings are 53-32-9-2 all-time in home openers, and 3-1-2 at Little Caesars Arena.
- Head coach Derek Lalonde became the fourth-straight bench boss to win his Red Wings debut, joining Dave Lewis (Oct. 10, 2002 at San Jose), Mike Babcock (Oct. 5, 2005 vs. St. Louis) and Jeff Blashill (Oct. 9, 2015 vs. Toronto).
- Elmer Söderblom scored what proved to be the game-winning goal in his NHL debut with 17:27 left in the third period.
- Ville Husso stopped all 29 shots he faced in his Red Wings debut, becoming the second goalie in Red Wings history to post a shutout in his team debut, joining Dave Gatherum who did so on Oct. 11, 1953 vs. Toronto.
- Michael Rasmussen and Olli Määttä tallied empty-net goals 13 seconds apart to wrap up the contest. Rasmussen factored in on all three Detroit goals, adding a pair of assists for his first career three-point performance, while Määttä scored in his Red Wings debut after netting just one goal in 107 games with Los Angeles from 2020-22.
- Oskar Sundqvist matched a career high with two assists, marking his first multi-assist game in a Detroit jersey.
- Andrew Copp also dished out an assist in his first Red Wings appearance.
ELMER’S GLUE
- Elmer Söderblom scored what proved to be the game-winning goal in his NHL debut on Oct. 14 vs. Montreal.
- Became the fourth Red Wings player in the past 10 years to score in their NHL debut, joining Dennis Cholowski (Oct. 4, 2018), Dylan
Larkin (Oct. 9, 2015) and Brian Lashoff (Jan. 21, 2013). - Also the fifth player in franchise history to score in their first career NHL game and have it stand as the game-winning goal, joining
Steve Martinson (Oct. 9, 1987), Mark Osborne (Oct. 6, 1981), Connie Brown (Jan. 26, 1939) and Carl Liscombe (Nov. 25, 1937).
A MOUNTAIN OF A MAN
- Standing at 6-foot-8, Elmer Söderblom is the tallest player in Red Wings history. The previous mark of 6-foot-6 was held by forward Michael Rasmussen (2018-19; 2020-present), defensemen Yip Foster (1933-35) and Uwe Krupp (1998-99; 2001-02), and goaltender Magnus Hellberg (2021-22).
- Weighing in at 246 pounds, Söderblom is also the heaviest player in franchise history, surpassing Krupp (240 pounds), along with forward Stu Grimson (239 pounds, 1994-97) and defenseman Derian Hatcher (235 pounds, 2003-04).
- Originally selected by the Red Wings in the sixth round (159th overall) of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, Söderblom joins a list of notable
European late-round picks to suit up for the team:
Jonathan Ericsson, 291st overall, 2002
Tomas Holmström, 257th overall, 1994
Vladimir Konstantinov, 221st overall, 1989
Henrik Zetterberg, 210th overall, 1999
Pavel Datsyuk, 171th overall, 1998
Elmer Söderblom, 159th overall, 2019
