‘Make It Happen’: Are Capitals Really Set To Turn The Corner?

WASHINGTON — After Friday’s big win, Evgeny Kuznetsov said that the Washington Capitals may want to keep the Reverse Retro jerseys as their primary uniforms, believing that the black sweaters made them look “much bigger and faster’ en route to a 3-0 win over the Calgary Flames. However, it may not be the jerseys that led to the win. Instead, it appears that this team could be ready for the turning point they’ve been waiting for.

Following a rough start to the season, several injuries and inconsistencies across the board, the Capitals have now won back-to-back games and appear to be finding their footing. They still have plenty of work left to do, but are just four points out of a Wild Card spot, and they have the opportunity to continue the climb back up and make that turning point a reality as they embark on a six-game road swing.

“When you win, you always have confidence,” captain Alex Ovechkin said. “Sometimes you play well, but you can’t win the game. And that frustrating a little bit. But the situation right now: we just have to collect the points. It doesn’t matter how — lucky, bad bounce — we just have to collect the points and try to get as many as possible.”

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It won’t be an easy trip by any means, as it’ll mark the team’s longest time away from home ice this year. Washington kicks off the festivities against the red-hot New Jersey Devils, who have won 14 of their last 15 games. After that, they will face several West Coast clubs, including the Vancouver Canucks and Seattle Kraken.

“Extremely important,” T.J. Oshie said of coming into the road swing with two big victories. “The Devils are obviously playing fantastic hockey this year, so it’s nice to have these two wins, get some momentum, go on the road and hopefully, get some greasy ones on the road here. You’ve got to play a little differently on the road. We haven’t been doing that this year. So hopefully tomorrow will be the first step: to get a little greasy, a little more direct, a little simple and physical on the road.”

This trip will be a big test for the Capitals. They haven’t won more than two games in a row this year, which is a far cry from the standards of success that the team has set in the dressing room. While there are several injuries to key names, including Nicklas Backstrom, Dmitry Orlov, Connor Brown, Tom Wilson and more, Washington isn’t making excuses.

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Instead, the locker room is demanding more from one another, and the team believes that coming together on the ice will translate to more wins and help change the direction that the year is going in.

“We’re still very confident in the group we got here. We’re definitely not happy with how the season started but we’re confident that we’re going to turn it around,” Darcy Kuemper said. “With that being said, we’re going to go and make it happen, and you know, the last two games have been a step in that direction.”