Washington Capitals

Washington Capitals

📸: RMNB After emphatically ending their four-game losing streak last night against the St. Louis Blues, the Washington Capitals are back in action 24 hours later to take on their biggest rival: the Pittsburgh Penguins. The matchup pits Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby against each other for the 74th time in the regular season. Ovi enters the game hours after reaching the 900-goal milestone.

As director of hockey analytics, Barnes was instrumental in incorporating data-driven decision-making into the day-to-day processes of the hockey operations department, overseeing the development of player valuation systems, trader tools for management, predictive frameworks for roster portfolio term risk, and technology to convert the insights of hockey operations management, scouts, and coaches into actionable metrics," the Capitals' description of Barnes' previous role reads.

The Caps' losing streak hit four games over the weekend, the power play has more questions than answers and more in today's clips. Your savory breakfast links: A few leftovers from Saturday's shootout loss to the Buffalo Sabres. [RMNB] The Washington Capitals' losing streak hit four games this weekend, a sharp contrast to last season's vibes. [WaPo ($)] What in the world is going on with the Caps? [THN]

Despite a free-flowing, ultra-fast-paced first period, neither team got on the board. After also playing most of the second period scoreless, John Carlson finally blasted the Capitals into the lead with 1:41 remaining on the clock. Alex Ovechkin pumped his second of the season home from another offensive-zone faceoff. Justin Sourdif picked up his first Capitals goal just over a minute later.

The Caps shake off the Jackets and return home to face the Sens, Pro looks to build on last year's success and more in today's Caps Clips.

In the team's 4-1 win over the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday, the Swedish blueliner skated a season low 15:01 of ice time. He took just four shifts in the third period, last coming off the ice after a 21-second shift with 7:53 left in regulation. Sandin is averaging 19:23 of ice time per game this fall and has recorded two assists in his last three games. Last season, he did not miss a single game, notching 30 points (4g, 26a) in 82 appearances.

He's a natural centerman. That's what he grew up playing. That's what he's played his whole life. He's been moved to the wing in Florida's organization for parts of his time in the American League, he can play the wing, but we think there's potentially a centerman there at the NHL level. And so I liked it a lot. I'm looking for any opportunity I can get him in the middle of the ice to see what that looks like.

The Washington Capitals' new Screaming Eagle third jerseys, which come in red, white, and blue, will be released on Friday morning, both online and at the club's team stores.

Check out our not-at-all-late season preview on the newest episode of Japers' Rink Radio, with special guest Corey Sznajder. [Rink] Tuesday night's win over Tampa was the result of an overtime plan executed to perfection by the Caps - at least according to their coach (who is pretty smart). [RMNB] It didn't hurt that Tom Wilson was driving the energy for the team, helping them to shake off a sluggish first and registering a three-point night for himself. [Monumental]

Like I said in the intro, the Capitals had a really sloppy start to the game, which saw them head into the second period down 1-0. They really flipped a switch at five-on-five after coming back out onto the ice, though, owning 18 of the remaining 28 scoring chances in the game and eight of the remaining high-danger chances. Total and complete defensive domination in the final 40 minutes, leaving a power-play goal against as the lone blemish. Good play-driving trends abound to begin this season.

"Nice, nice," Brandon Duhaime said of the helmets. "I have seen the jerseys, but it'd be nice to see it on players and see it live. That would be cool."