DC Metro Sports - Early Road Trip Could Provide Answers

Written by Justin Creech
Sunday, 07 October 2007
By winning their first two games of the season the Washington Capitals have stirred questions as to whether or not they are as good as they’ve looked. Answers to those questions could come over the next five days as the team embarks on a mini road trip through the state of New York. The Capitals will take on the New York Islanders tomorrow at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum before match ups with the New York Rangers on Friday Oct 12, and the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday Oct 13. “We are just going to keep executing our plan and system,” said Coach Glen Hanlon of what the team hopes to get out of the next three games. “[Try to] play as close to perfect as we can and see where we are.” Washington has looked like world beaters in their first two games against Southeast division opponents. The Capitals out shot the Atlanta Thrashers and Carolina Hurricanes a combined 73-52 and was a perfect 8-for-8 on the penalty kill. In the win over the Hurricanes, Washington didn’t allow Carolina their first shot until 13 and a half minutes had passed in the first period. Another indication of how dominant the Capitals have been is the fact that they have allowed only one goal over the two game span, a feat they failed to accomplish the entire 2006-2007 season. Monday’s game against the Islanders will mark defensemen Tom Poti’s return to Long Island. Poti spent last season with the Islanders before signing with Washington over the summer. “It’s just another game for me,” said Poti. “I’ve played against my old teams a few times so it’s nothing new. [We’re] just going to go out their and try to get the win.” Wins against the next three opponents have been hard to come by in recent seasons. Since the start of the 2005-2006 season the Capitals are just 8-20-0-2 against the Islanders, Rangers and Sabres, including a 0-11-0-1 mark on the road. “We’ve had our trouble in their buildings, but we haven’t played that bad against them as a team,” said captain Chris Clark of the teams’ recent woes in the state of New York. “I think coming in we just have to look at it as team[s] we have to beat because they’re in our conference and a playoff hopeful, so if we could take a spot away from them that would be great.” The Capitals will particularly be tested against the Rangers and Sabres. The Rangers sport a roster that includes future hall of famers Jaromir Jagr and Brendan Shanahan, as well as current stars Scott Gomez and Chris Drury. Drury signed as a free agent this off season after spending the previous three seasons with the Sabres. Gomez signed after spending his entire seven year career with the New Jersey Devils. “It puts the onus on not just one line shutting down a team,” said Clark of playing against the Rangers stars. “All [of] our lines have to really go out and play good defense and shut down the [Rangers] because they don’t just have one power line. They have three almost four maybe.” The Sabres reached the Eastern Conference Finals the last two seasons, however lost their top two forwards during the off-season as Drury signed with the Rangers and center Daniel Briere signed with the Philadelphia Flyers. Washington went through a bit of controversy last season with the Sabres. In the team’s first meeting on Dec 2, a 7-4 Capitals win, Alex Ovechkin was ejected late in the second period after a shoulder hit on Briere, a hit the Sabres felt deemed a cheap shot. Clark, however, doesn’t feel any animosity will linger into this season’s series. “You don’t want to get off your game and start doing stuff like that,” said Clark. “I don’t even think there is anything there anyway, but even if there is you have to control that emotion because two points are huge for us.” Coming out of these three games with a winning mark will go a long way in helping the Capitals build confidence seeing as how they are still young and haven’t completely gelled with the new additions. “We’re not out trying to make a statement we’re just trying to get wins,” said Poti. “It’s huge to get wins early in the season so you’re not fighting to the death at the end of season, so it’s nice to put points in the bank now.”

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