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It’s an interconference battle on the ice between a pair of teams looking to find their footing as the opening week of the NHL season comes to a close with a tilt in the nation’s capital. The Vancouver Canucks are on the road as they make the trip to the east coast to take on the Washington Capitals Monday night. Vancouver let a two-goal lead slip away as they were beaten 3-2 on the road by the Flyers Saturday afternoon. Washington earned their first win of the season after two straight defeats as they dumped Montreal 3-1 at home Saturday night. The Capitals have posted a 7-2-1 record in the last 10 meetings, including a 4-3 overtime win on the road in the most recent matchup on March 11, 2022.
Vancouver had their chances as they jumped in front early against Philadelphia but failed to put the game away. The Canucks enter this game 0-2-0 on the season and stand seventh in the Pacific Division, six points behind Vegas for the top spot already. Vancouver is 22nd in the season in goals per game as they put up an average of 2.50 goals per contest this season. The Canucks are 26th in the league in goals against as they allow an average of four goals per game. Vancouver is 25th in the league in power play success as they convert only 7.7% of their chances with the man advantage on the season. The Canucks are a dismal 31st in the league in penalty killing as they have successfully navigated only 55.6% of their shorthanded situations this season.
Against the Flyers, the Canucks started strong but wilted as the game went on, leading to a meltdown that tur ned into a defeat. Vancouver was outshot by a 14-4 margin in the opening period but skated off with a 2-0 lead on the scoreboard after 20 minutes of play. Kyle Burroughs opened the scoring with his first of the season at 1:34 of the period off assists from Brock Boeser and Tanner Pearson. Conor Garland gave the Canucks a 2-0 lead with his first of the season at 14:12 with assists going to Vasily Podkolzin and Luke Schenn. In the second period, Vancouver held a 13-9 shot advantage but was outscored 2-0 to head to the dressing room for the second intermission tied at two. In the third period, the Canucks held a 13-8 edge in shots on goal but they gave up the lone goal of the stanza to end up with the loss. Thatcher Demko made 28 saves for the Canucks, who were outshot 31-30, in the loss. He is expected to get the call between the pipes for this contest as well.