Couture and the Caps sink Sens ahead of date with the Devils

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Couture and the Caps sink Sens ahead of date with the Devils

Washington, DC –

The Washington Capitals took to the ice on Wednesday morning for a surprisingly fast paced practice despite their scheduled matchup with the division rival New Jersey Devils later the same evening. The Caps, fresh off a closely contested 1-0 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Monday night, were noticeably moving with a confidence that has been sorely lacking for the team this year.

On Monday night, the Caps doubled the amount of the shots that the playoff bound Senators were able to produce (38-19) but were turned away time and again by former Capitals-star Marc-Andre Fleury. For his part, Darcy Kuemper, a.k.a. the man who replaced Fleury in Washington, was solid for the Capitals in net when called upon.

“It’s been a tough go here for us this year,” Kuemper said following the game. His 19 save performance against the Sens was good enough for his 2nd shutout of the season. “We have been on the wrong side of a lot of close games this season, so it’s nice to come out with the right result when our guys are controlling the game like that – we have to continue that down the stretch here.”

The Capitals, who have a 4-2 record since the trade deadline, were once again seemingly propelled to victory by players that joined the team at the deadline. Rookie defenseman Alexander Romanov made his presence felt with a team leading 5 hits, providing a glimpse of what fans can expect from him in Season 21.

Later, after more than 45-minutes of scoreless hockey, Mitch Marner fed a steaking Oskar Lindblom (deadline acquisition) in the slot, whose subsequent shot was deflected into the net by former-Senator Logan Couture (deadline acquisition) for the first and only goal of the game. Lindblom and Couture have quickly made their presence felt in the Washington lineup, but Monday night was Couture’s night. Couture received several standing ovations from the Senators crowd, including one throughout a heartfelt video tribute that played on the big screen.

“This one felt better (than the victory on March 31), we were throwing everything that we had at them and (Fleury) was really standing on his head,” Couture said of the win over his former team. “Losing a game like that when you are clearly controlling the play can be devastating, so it was nice to get that goal for the boys … Sure, it’s also nice to bury one on your old team, too, but I really don’t try to think about that. My focus is here with the Washington Capitals, now, and we are focused on finishing the year strong.”

The Capitals (31-34-6) are back in action on Wednesday night at home against the Devils (31-32-7). With a win, the Capitals can sweep the season series with the Devils 3-0.