Record: 1-2-1
The Caps were 1-2-0 in Week 5 last season in what would be
one of just three losing weeks in the 2016-2017 season. The disturbing aspect of Week 2 and the Caps’
1-2-1 record – their first losing week this season – is that the record came
entirely against Eastern Conference teams, and the Caps were 1-2-0 against
fellow travelers in the Metropolitan Division.
Disappointing as it was, it was not far from being a lot better, the
Caps dropping a pair of one-goal decisions, one in overtime to the Tampa Bay
Lightning on a power play.
Offense: 3.00/game
(season: 3.67/game, 9th)
Three goals a game over four games might be considered an “average”
week for this team. How they got there
was not, and it was not an especially confidence-building experience. Five Capitals shared the 12 goals scored for
the week, and the distribution is what is of note. T.J. Oshie led the club with four goals, and
11 of the 12 were scored by forwards on the top two lines. Christian Djoos had the other for the
defenseman’s first NHL goal in his NHL debut against Pittsburgh in the second
game of the week. It also happens to be
the only goal scored by a Capitals defenseman through six games so far this
season. As it is, Nathan Walker and
Brett Connolly are the only forwards outside the top-six to record a goal so
far among the 21 scored by the club.
Defense: 4.25/game (season: 3.67/game, 24th)
If Wayne Gretzky was right about not scoring on 100 percent
of the shots you don’t take, opponents have taken that adage to heart against
the Caps. The Caps allowed more than 35
shots to three of their four opponents in Week 2, giving them five games with
more than 30 shots against in six games this season. That they merely rank 22nd in the
league in shots against per game might be a reflection of more offense across
the league at this early stage of the season.
Digging into that number, the Caps finished the week ranked 24th
in 5-on-5 Corsi (46.2 percent; numbers from Corsica.hockey) and 17th
in shots attempts against per 60 minutes at 5-on-5 (55.22).
Goaltending: 4.23 / .875 (season: 3.60 / .894)
Goalies get the wins, and often the praise that goes with
it, and they get the losses, and the often the grief that follows along. The numbers paint a portrait of a bad week
for Braden Holtby and Philipp Grubauer.
Holtby took Game 2 and 3 for the week and did not fare all that
poorly. His 1-1-0, 2.54, .915 record for
the week was not at the standard of overall production one has come to expect
of Holtby, but stopping 43 of 44 shots at even strength was (.977 save
percentage). That 9-for-13 in facing
power plays was another matter (.692 save percentage), including all three
goals scored by the Penguins in their 3-2 win over the Caps.
The best that can be said of Philipp Grubauer’s week is that
he took one for the team, and over the course of a long season, there is a lot
to be said for that. He did not get much
in the way of support in front of him.
He faced 40 shots against the Tampa Bay Lightning to start the week, 22
of them in the third period and overtime, and had to face a Lightning power
play on the game-deciding goal. Against
the Philadelphia Flyers to end the week, the team in front of him was playing
its third game in four nights and the back half of a road set of back-to-back
games. It might not be as grueling a run
as it might be in February or March, when the grind of the season takes its
toll, but it was no skate on the pond, either.
And Grubauer was left in to face the whirlwind – 37 shots, eight
goals. It was the most goals allowed by
a Caps goaltender in a single game since Olaf Kolzig gave up eight in an 8-1
loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on January 25, 2006.
Power Play: 5-for-15 / 33.3 percent (season: 30.0 percent / 2nd)
Going 5-for-15 is a very good week, but what is odd about
that kind of efficiency was that the Caps alternated games with power play
goals (two against Tampa Bay, three against New Jersey) with games without a
goal (against Pittsburgh and Philadelphia).
T.J. Oshie had a particularly productive week, posting three of the Caps’
five power play goals. And then there
was Nicklas Backstrom, who recorded an points on all five goals with the man
advantage, a goal and four assists. That
output put him at the top of the league’s power play scoring list for the week
and at the top of that list for the season (1-5-6). Overall, the Caps were an efficient group,
scoring those five goals on 25 power play shots (20.0 percent) and recording
those 24 shots in 24:00 of power play ice time.
Penalty Killing: 11-for-17 / 64.7 percent (season: 76.9 percent / T-21st)
And yet… the Caps ended up on the short end of the special
teams scoring for the week, going minus-2 off five goals scored and seven
allowed. Six of those special teams
goals against came on the opponents’ power play (one other a shorthanded goal
against) in what would be charitably be called a difficult week. The Caps allowed three power play goals to
the Penguins in the second game of the week, the first time they allowed that
many in a single game since they allowed three power play goals in a 4-2 loss
to the Dallas Stars on March 13, 2015.
Overall, the Caps spent entirely too much time killing penalties. The recorded 28:38 in shorthanded ice time
for the week, and that despite only 1:32 recorded against the Flyers to end the
week (they scored on that power play).
Allowing 27 shots in that time logged wasn’t a bad result in terms of
shots per minute, but the cumulative effect was hardly what the Caps were
looking for.
Faceoffs: 125-for-257 / 48.6 percent (season: 51.6 percent / 12th)
It was a mediocre week in the circle overall and one that
was very different among players in their particulars. The 48.6 percent was spit roughly into a good
week in the defensive end (49-88/55.7 percent) and a poor one in the offensive
end (28-73/38.4 percent). At the individual
level, two of the Caps taking ten or more draws finished the week over 50
percent – Nicklas Backstrom (35-68/51.5 percent) and Lars Eller (32-52/61.5
percent). T.J. Oshie (11-27/40.7
percent) and Evgeny Kuznetsov (18-55/32.7 percent) were well under 50 percent,
while Jay Beagle has what was for him an off week (15-33/45.5 percent).
Goals by Period:
Allowing three goals in four first periods is not great, but
it’s not especially bad, either. But as
time went on in games, the worse if got for the Caps, who were outscored, 14-8
over the last 40 minutes and overtime for the week. The Caps finished the week with only the
Penguins (10) allowing more second period goals than the Caps (9) and only
Calgary and St. Louis (nine apiece) allowing more third period goals than
Washington (eight).
In the end…
Everything the Caps might be concerned about came to pass in
Week 2. An injury to an important
player; Matt Niskanen will be out for at least ten games and 24 days with a
hand injury after being slashed by New Jersey Devil forward Jimmy Hayes. Lack of defensive depth – the Caps iced Aaron
Ness, Christian Djoos, and Madison Bowey (in his NHL debut) against the Flyers
to end the week. Their lack of
experience showed and was exploited by the Flyers. Lack of bottom six scoring – it helped doom
their postseason last spring, and things have not improved with the start of
the new season. The competition – if the Caps wanted to measure themselves
against potential postseason rivals, they came up short against Tampa Bay and
Pittsburgh, although both of those games were decided by one goal, one of them
in overtime on a power play. The
schedule – the Caps played three of their four games in Week 3 on the road,
making it four of six games on the road to start the season and part of a eight
games in 12 on the road in October. It
is a trial by fire the Caps are on that will temper them and make them stronger
or burn their early season playoff hopes to a crisp.
Three Stars:
- First Star: Nicklas Backstrom (3-6-9, plus-2, points on all five power play goals, 51.5 percent faceoff winning)
- Second Star: T.J. Oshie (4-3-7, plus-1, three of the Caps’ five power play goals, four power play points)
- Third Star: Christian Djoos (1-1-2, plus-2, first rookie defenseman to record two or more points in a season since the Caps had four blueliners do it in the 2013-2014 season: Alexander Urbom, Patrick Wey, Connor Carrick, and Nate Schmidt)
