The Washington Capitals look to continue their good fortune at home on Tuesday when they host the Los Angeles Kings, the lone winless team in the NHL.
The Capitals have won four of their five games this season in Washington, D.C., and have registered points in 17 of their last 19 games at home (15-2-2) dating back to last season.
Boone Jenner scored his fourth goal in his last five games in Washington’s 4-2 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Saturday afternoon. Ten players dented the scoresheet for the Capitals, who improved to 2-0-0 on their five-game homestand.
“I think all four lines, all six (defensemen) were on the same page,” Washington defenseman Vincent Desharnais said after his two-assist performance.
“Trying to keep them on the outside, try to slow them down as much as we could. And when there were any breakdowns, (goaltender Logan Thompson) was there to make the big saves. So, it’s a great team win, and if we can just keep building on top of that, it’s a good team out there. And I think we played really well.”
Ryan Leonard provided a highlight-reel goal for the Capitals.
Signed to an eight-year, $84 million contract last month, Leonard accepted a feed in his own end late in the first period, skated up the middle and around several Devils before deking goaltender Jake Allen for a game-tying goal.
“You kind of hear the moans of the crowd — and our guys feel that, too — and then (Leonard) makes a huge play and basically brings the building to life and brings our bench to life,” Washington coach Spencer Carbery said. “And then that snowballs to the point of grabbing that momentum and taking it into the intermission and then taking over the game in the second. So it’s a huge play, a huge moment.”
The Capitals capitalized off that momentum early in the second period, as superstar captain Alex Ovechkin set up Ilya Protas’ go-ahead goal. The assist was the 761st for the 41-year-old Ovechkin, one shy of tying former teammate Nicklas Backstrom for the most in franchise history.
“As soon as I kind of saw him looking at me, I’m like, ‘Yeah, he’s going to try to make the play,'” Protas said of receiving Ovechkin’s saucer pass on a rush. “And it was a great pass, right to my tape, and luckily I scored.”
Scoring is something the Kings have struggled to do of late. They have mustered just four goals in their last four games (0-3-1).
“It’s easy to blame it on the bounces, but our work ethic is just not good enough right now,” said Alex Laferriere, who scored Los Angeles’ lone goal in a 4-1 setback to the Boston Bruins on Saturday.
“But when we start working harder we’re going to get those bounces, and I think that’s just what we got to do to turn it around.”
Laferriere was moved up to the first line with Adrian Kempe and Artemi Panarin in Saturday’s contest.
Panarin leads the team with three goals while defenseman Brandt Clarke has club-best totals in assists (four) and points (five).
The Kings also mustered just one goal in each game versus the Capitals last season. Ovechkin scored a goal in Washington’s 2-1 win on Nov. 17 and added two assists in the Capitals’ 3-1 victory on Dec. 2.