Capitals vs. Wild Preview: March 22, 2019
The Washington Capitals play their second of four home games tonight against the Minnesota Wild. Both teams are doing well, but the playoff push must continue as both teams look to maintain seeding. The Capitals were lucky to escape with an overtime point against the Lightning on Tuesday, but need to keep distance against the Islanders to clinch the Metro Division.
The Capitals still hold a respectable lead on the Metro with 94 points. Evgeny Kuznetsov scored his twentieth goal on Tuesday night which sent the game into overtime. He is the ninth Capital this season to do so. Matt Kempny, the strongest defenceman Washington has, is out after a fight with Tampa, requiring some changes to the roster. He can probably afford to rest this game, but the road will be tougher.
The Wild need to make up some ground to grab the last wild-card in the West. Their 77 points are one behind the Phoenix Coyotes in the wild-card race, and even behind the Colorado Avalanche at this point. They no longer control their destiny as they need to keep playing hard and have Colorado lose one. But Eric Staal and Ryan Suter hope now to play spoiler for the Capitals as their own division rivals of the Islanders and Penguins begin to close the gap.
The Capitals previously played the Wild on November 13 in Minnesota, winning 5-2. With the teams from different conferences, this will be the last meeting between the teams this season. Game starts at 7:00 p.m. at Capital One Arena. Holtby in net tonight looks to pick up another win and limber up as the playoffs approach.
