For any Eastern Conference team, one of the cruelest trips to make is the western Canada swing against the Edmonton Oilers, Calgary Flames and Vancouver Canucks. Despite each of those teams drafting in the top six last season, the traveling itself makes it a tough play each time around.
The Washington Capitals concluded that road trip Sunday night with a 4-2 loss to the Canucks, finishing with only one win during the three game trip.
Washington Capitals: The Good That Can Come From Bad Road Trip
Obviously it isn’t the outcome that they had hoped for, but several inserts during the games were bright spots that the team can take back east with them going forward.
Against Calgary they showed they can win games when they have to grind it out with the opposition, and that they can more than certainly win a game with the fourth line carrying the way. After dropping Joel Ward to the bottom line against the Flames, they responded with three total goals – including the first of Liam O’Brien’s career.
All though they got away from fighting to get the puck deep to set up from the corner and behind the net, this trip can be used to show the team more what works – and what doesn’t. The Capitals tried to get in a track meet against the Canucks, on the road, and it backfired on them.
Lesson learned, on to the next game.
When Washington signed Brooks Orpik to a contract that would pay him $5.5-million a year, a lot of eye brows were raised. At 34-years old and known solely for his physical play, it seemed a lot to pay but what he has provided has been everything the Capitals have been missing and then some.
A bonafide leader on and off the ice, there is no doubt Orpik is one of the most physical defenders in front of his own net in the league – something the Captials haven’t had in years. It didn’t even take a single game for Orpik to show what kind of impact he would have, as he has worn one of the two ‘A’ on his jersey since the opener.
“The things that Brooks Orpik does you can’t put a value on it.” Head coach Barry Trotz said during an interview in the offseason. Orpik addressed the thought of him being overpaid in the same article,
“Whether you make the minimum or $9-million, there’s always going to be people that think you’re overpaid… Washington, I think they know me well enough so they know what they’re getting.”
Getting two out a possible six points is certainly makes it a discouraging trip home, especially when all the damage was done in such a short span (Vancouver scored three goals in a two minute span), but a lot of good can be taken the trip.
They had a legitimate opportunity to win anyone of those games, got some real good goaltending from their backup Justin Peters (1:47-worth of time aside) and did all of this with Alex Ovechkin managing just five shots on goal the entire trip.
As oppose to some other years where it was more ‘you get what you see’ for Washington, there is more of a sense of a buildup of ‘what could be’. A new coach, GM, and a refreshment of young players will do that for you, and maybe that’s exactly what they needed.
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