NHL review: Capitals vs Knights

With the beginning of the 2018-2019 season of the National Hockey League (finally) underway, there is anxiety and excitement pulsing around the country with the beginning phases of a monumental season in the world of hockey.

In the end of the 2017-2018 season, the entire country was shocked to see two “Cinderella” teams advance to the Stanley Cup Finals: the Las Vegas Golden Knights, who were in their inaugural year with the league, and the Washington Capitals, who always had put forth the effort to make it to the finals, but always came up just a tad too short in the endgame. These two teams put forth teamwork, perseverance, and fire into their game. Both teams deserved to tread as far as they did, and the hard work put into the regular season was apparent.

But, where are these two teams now?

Washington Capitals

In the offseason leading up to the beginning of the 2018-2019 year, reports showed that the Capitals’ coach, Barry Trotz, had decided to make a move from our nation’s capital to the land of Brooklyn, New York, as the head coach for the New York Islanders. This came as a shock to most fans, as it was just seemingly out of the blue – why did the coach who just led his team to a Stanley Cup victory decide to up and move? According to an article written by NBC Sports Network, on June 21, Trotz made a public statement about his move to Brooklyn, stating that “from a business aspect, from my standpoint, I felt that it wasn’t sincere what we did together. So, I decided that it was best that I move on.” On June 29, it was announced that assistant Todd Reirdan would be promoted to head coach of the now defending Stanley Cup champions.

After a hard-working offseason, and rigorous pre-season schedule, the Washington Capitals opened their season at Capital One Arena against the Boston Bruins, boasting a 7-0 win, with Lars Eller scoring the game-winning goal with 10:52 left in the 3^rd period. But the winning didn’t stop there.

Looking back at the last week for the Capitals, all three games that were played by the champions were action-packed with goals and hits: First, a 5-2 win in Vancouver, with captain Alexander Ovechkin leading the game with 2 goals and 2 assists, totaling 4 points the entire game, and goalie Braden Holtby with a 91.7% save rate. T.J. Oshie, the wonder boy from the Sochi Olympic Games, scored the game-winning goal 18:19 into the 3^rd period. Following the win in Vancouver, the Capitals suffered a heavy 4-1 loss in Edmonton, with Andre Burakovsky scoring the only goal on the Capitals’ boxscore. Lastly, the Capitals traveled to Calgary, where the team showed their dominance in a shootout against the Flames, fighting for their reign, and winning the battle in a 4-3 win, thanks to Niklas Backstrom.

The Capitals have a lot to look forward to in this coming week’s schedule – all home games, and all teams are out to take the crown that the Capitals wear. On November 5^th, the Capitals host the Edmonton Oilers in their second meet-up of the season; November 7^th, Capital One Arena will host the Pittsburgh Penguins and “the second-greatest player in the world” Sidney Crosby, finally followed by the Dallas Stars on November 9^th, home of the dynamic duo Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn. All three games that the Capitals will play in the next week will prove crucial to their position in the post-season, as Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers remains uninjured (so far), and Sidney Crosby remaining one of the best forwards in the league. Will Washington push through, or will we begin to see the wall crack and crumble?

Keep a steady eye on Niklas Backstrom, Alexander Ovechkin, and Matt Niskanen this coming week – Backstom is coming off of a hot streak, scoring his 600^th NHL assist on October 23^rd.

Las Vegas Golden Knights

Following an epic inaugural season to the NHL, the Las Vegas Golden Knights had a jam-packed offseason in preparation for their 2^nd NHL year. For fans of minor-league hockey in the Midwest, news broke sometime late summer that the Knights would be forming an alliance with the ECHL team Fort Wayne Komets. The Komets have been through a few affiliations in the past, according to fans, but this partnership could prove useful to both parties involved with this partnership. The Golden Knights made some daring moves in the offseason, the most notable being the acquiring of Max Paciorrety from the Montreal Canadiens. Compared to the previous season, the Knights hold an 8:1 odds to winning the Stanley Cup in the 2018-2019 year, compared to Washington’s 10:1 odds; however, all across the Internet, there is speculation that the Golden Knights will regress with their progress, and possibly not even make the playoffs in the new season. Questions are floating around about the skill level of William Karlsson, whose breakout year occurred in the 2017-2018 season, and goaltender Marc Andre-Fleury, as there are people who say he “single-handedly carried the team to their success”.

The Golden Knights began their season on October 4^th against the Philadelphia Flyers in T-Mobile Arena, but fell in a 5-2 loss. In the last week, the Golden Knights have fallen to Vancouver in a 3-2 shootout loss, which still gained the team 1 of the 2 points they were looking for that night. Goals made by Max Pacioretty and Ryan Reaves, with Markus Granlund of the Vancouver Canucks scoring the winning goal of the game. On October 26^th, the Tampa Bay Lightning paid the Knights a visit in the Sin City, posing the Knights with another one-goal loss of 3-2. Where will this put the Knights in the next week?

The Golden Knights will travel across Canada next week, with their first stop being in Toronto on November 6^th, followed by a visit in Ottawa on November 8^th, and Montreal on November 10^th. One of the biggest key games in this series being against Montreal, as Marc Andre-Fleury and Carey Price both defend their team’s net, both being two of the best goalies in the league. Players to watch out for on this coming week’s roster are center Jonathan Marchessault, William Karlsson, and defenseman Jon Merrill. Jon Merrill recently had a gruesome fight against Senators’ defenseman Mark Borowiecki, which could prove a feisty game in Ottawa next week.