The Washington Capitals are scheduled to celebrate at least one milestone when they visit the Calgary Flames on Tuesday, and they would like to achieve a few more.
Veteran Washington forwards Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom are slated to play their 1,000th NHL game together, which would make them the ninth set of NHL teammates to do so.
Individually, Ovechkin is two goals behind Jaromir Jagr (766) for third place on the NHL’s all-time list. Backstrom is just three points shy of recording his 1,000th career point. Backstrom has assisted on 274 of Ovechkin’s 764 career goals (35.9 percent), more than twice as many as any other player.
“I remember being in New Jersey when they played (No.) 900 together, and it feels like just yesterday,” Capitals forward Tom Wilson said of his longtime teammates, according to NHL.com. “I remember thinking how cool it was that I was playing with them that night, and just being able to take in skating with two of the best players in the world, and two of the best teammates ever to play together.
“The stuff that they’ve accomplished is just one of those things that, every once in a while you’ve just got to stop and take it all in because you realize that it will probably never happen again.”
The Flames have been accomplishing big things lately, especially at home. They take a 13-game home point streak into the matchup with Washington.
Calgary opened a four-game homestand — and a stretch of five games in seven days — with a 3-1 win over the rival Edmonton Oilers on Monday night, giving them a 12-0-1 record in their past 13 games at the Saddledome.
Tyler Toffoli scored two goals for the Flames, and teammate Johnny Gaudreau had a goal and an assist. Toffoli has five goals in his past five games and 10 points (seven goals, three assists) in 10 games since being acquired by Calgary in a mid-February trade with the Montreal Canadiens.
Gaudreau, who has three goals and six assists in the past five games, became the fourth player in the NHL to reach 50 assists this season.
“Every line can go out there and create momentum and do positive things throughout the game,” Toffoli said. “We just roll the lines, and we trust our power play, our penalty kill and obviously we trust our goaltenders, and I think that’s the key to success.”
Jacob Markstrom made 27 saves as Calgary ran its point streak to five games (4-0-1). The Flames are 16-2-1 since Jan. 24.
Calgary goalie Dan Vlader, the likely Tuesday starter, is 1-1-0 with a 5.39 goals-against average and an .810 save percentage in his career against Washington.
The Capitals are set to open a three-game western swing. They have won two in a row after losing three straight, thanks in part to an improved power play and the return of goaltender Vitek Vanecek.
Washington went 2-for-2 with the man advantage in a 5-2 win against the Seattle Kraken on Saturday. The Capitals went 5-for-11 on the power play during their just-concluded, three-game homestand and were a perfect 10-for-10 on the penalty kill.
After a midseason drought, the Capitals have improved to a 17.9 percent power-play percentage.
“There’s just been a lot of turnover on the units,” Capitals coach Peter Laviolette said of the power play. “So, it’s nice to get people (including forward T.J. Oshie) back and situated in a place and get them working and in rhythm. It’s definitely had an impact.”
Since his return from an upper-body injury, Vanecek has stopped 81 of 84 shots (.964 save percentage) in a relief appearance and two starts, taking hold of the No. 1 spot.
He allowed three goals in one period in his only prior action vs. the Flames on Oct. 23.
Washington forward Conor Sheary has three goals and two assists over the past three games and is fourth on the team with 14 goals.
–Field Level Media