The Capitals, who have lost two straight and three of their last four games in the MHL (Maritime Junior Hockey League), will host the surging Amherst Ramblers at Eastlink Arena. Game time is 7 p.m.
“It’s going to be a tough one,” admitted Caps head coach Billy McGuigan. “They are on a seven-game winning streak, and are playing real good hockey.”
The Capitals will be without forward Alex Rawding, who will serve a one-game suspension he picked up after being assessed the Caps’ second goaltender interference penalty in Sunday’s 3-0 loss in Woodstock.
The Caps are 19-17-0-1 (won-lost-overtime losses-shootout losses), good for 39 points and third place in the Eastlink North Division. The Caps, who went 4-3 during a tough schedule in January that featured six divisional games, are five points back of second-place Dieppe (20-13-3-1), and six in front of fourth-place Woodstock (15-18-1-2).
Amherst (22-8-2-2), which has also won 10 of its last 11 games and earned 21 of a possible 22 points during that stretch, is tied with the Truro Bearcats (23-11-1-1) for third place in the Eastlink South Division.
Offensive struggles
McGuigan said the Capitals, who have only scored five goals in their last four games, will need an “all-round 60-minute game” against the Ramblers, who have lit the lamp 22 times in their last four contests.
“We have to find a way to find the net,” analyzed McGuigan. “We don’t have an offensive-minded team, and the young guys seem to be leading the way.
“We have to find more contributions from all areas of our team. We know we struggle to score goals, so our mandate here is to try and play fast, get pucks in behind D, forecheck and work off our fitness level that former Rambler (and Caps conditioning coach) Joe Borden has provided this year.
“It’s a testament to Joe’s hard work that we can play at such a high level of pace most nights.”
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