Record: 1-0-1
Week 17 was the flip side of Week 16, both weeks including a
loss in overtime, but the Caps won a game in the latest week, reversing their
loss in regulation recorded in Week 16.
All in all, it is hard to get too irritated with the Caps’ 1-1-2 record
over the past two weeks. It has to be
difficult to sustain any rhythm or high-motor when you play only four games
over a 13 day period with a five-day break for the league-mandated bye and
another three full days between games before the pre-All-Star Game finale.
The best part of winning the last game before the All-Star
Game break and finishing the last two weeks with that 1-1-2 record is that the
Caps take a six-point lead over the rest of the Metropolitan Division into the
break, and they hold two games in hand on the suddenly streaking Pittsburgh
Penguins, tied with the Columbus Blue Jackets for the second spot in the
division.
As the Caps go into the All-Star Break, there is an oddly
pleasant surprise about their record – its consistency. First, consider that the team lost Matt
Niskanen for 14 games, T.J. Oshie for six games to injury, and have had a lot
of inconsistency from Andre Burakovsky in addition to injury that kept him out
for 25 games. And yet, if you look at
the Caps in ten-game segments going into the break (nine games in the last
segment), their records are:
- 4-5-1 / 9 points
- 6-4-0 / 12 points
- 8-2-0 / 16 points
- 6-2-2 / 14 points
- 5-2-2 / 12 points (nine games)
They have the third best record in the league since November
1st (24-9-4/52 points) trailing only the Nashville Predators
(24-7-5/53 points) and Boston Bruins (25-7-5/55 points). Their consistency and continuing success will
be tested, though, with Evgeny Kuznetsov suffering what appeared to be a groin
injury in the Caps’ 4-2 win over Florida to end the week. His absence will be keenly felt and will test
the Caps’ ability to close ranks and move forward.
Offense: 2.50 /game (season: 3.00 /game, rank: T-9th)
Two games, five total goals.
Same as Week 16. If there was
concern about that, it was that the Caps scored only two even strength goals
for the week, one by Alex Ovechkin and one by John Carlson. They did get points from 11 different
skaters, so in that respect there was a measure of balance. Ovechkin (three), Carlson (two), and Evgeny
Kuznetsov (two) were the Caps with multi-point weeks.
But it was not an especially efficient week for the
Caps. This has been a very
discriminating team this season in terms of shots, ranking 31st in
the league in shots per game at week’s end.
They did, however, record 74 shots in the two games in Week 17,
including 46 in the 4-2 win over the Florida Panthers to close the week. The 6.8 percent shooting percentage was a far
cry, though, from the 10.3 percent for the season.
The shots for the week extended what, for the Caps this
season, is an odd streak. In outshooting
the Philadelphia Flyers (28-23) and the Panthers (46-34), the Caps have now
gone four games without being out-shot, their longest such streak of the
season.
The Caps have yet to cut loose, though, so far in the 2018
portion of the season. They did score
four goals against the Panthers, but they have yet to score more than that in
regulation in nine games so far in 2018 (they did score a fifth goal in a 5-4
overtime win over Carolina in the first game of the new year).
Defense: 2.00 / game (season: 2.80 /game, rank: 14th)
The Caps have struggled at times with the volume of shots
allowed, having allowed teams 35 or more shots 17 times going into Week
17. They came out of the week without
adding to that total, holding Philadelphia (23) and Florida (34) to a total of
57 shots. In fact, that made four
straight games that the Caps held teams under 35 shots, their longest streak of
such games since mid-November, when they had an eight-game streak. The Caps might finally be finding their
defensive posture as a result. Not since
they allowed four goals to the Carolina Hurricanes in the first game of the
calendar year have the Caps allowed four goals in regulation.
What was just as encouraging was the shot attempts allowed
at 5-on-5. The Caps allowed just 71 in
the two games. It was what drove a week
in which the Caps shot attempts-for percentage was a very good 56.97 percent
overall (numbers from NHL.com) and an even better 60.14 percent in close
situations.
Goaltending: 2.00 / .930 (season: 2.63 / .917 / 1 shutout)
Braden Holtby got both starts in Week 17, and it was a very
good week. Holtby (and backup Philipp
Grubauer) have had to deal with heavier and higher quality shot volumes this
season, and it shows in the overall numbers (although Grubauer is particularly
a victim of low goal support). With a
bit lower shot volume to contend with, Holtby resembled more the goalie Caps
fans saw the past two years.
What was noteworthy about the week for Holtby was how he
closed out games in regulation. He
stopped all 18 third period shots he faced in the two games for the week. Not that he was a slouch in the first periods
of games, where he stopped 18 of the 19 shots he faced (.947 save
percentage). It might have been a great
week had he turned away the only shot he faced in overtime, but Travis Konecny
scored on the only shot the Flyers recorded in overtime in the first game of
the week to take a 2-1 decision.
Power Play: 3-for-9 / 33.3 percent (season: 20.0 percent,
rank: T-14th)
The Caps had their best week –efficiency-wise – since Week
2. With a 33.3 percent power play on a
3-for-9 week, they matched the 33.3 percent they had on 5-for-15 in the second
week of the season. The three goals were
scored by three different players – Ovechkin, Brett Connolly, and Nicklas
Backstrom. Eight different players had
power play points, Ovechkin having two as the only multi-point player with the
man advantage.
When the Caps scored a pair of power play goals against
Florida, it was the first time the Caps scored more than one power play goal on
the road (two) since they had a pair in 4-3 win in Detroit over the Red Wings
on October 20th. It broke a 17-game road
streak without scoring a pair of power play goals (5-for-47 over that streak –
10.6 percent).
The big thing for the power play in Week 17 was the shot
volume. Washington recorded two goals on
19 shots on goal against the Panther penalty killers in 9:24 of power play
time on their way to finishing the week with three goals on 22 shots in just
14:08 of ice time. On the other hand,
the Caps did allow the Panthers four shots while shorthanded, which it a bit
too loose for comfort on the man advantage.
Penalty Killing: 7-for-7 / 100.0 percent (season: 80.2
percent, rank: 18th)
Week 17 was the sixth time that the Caps spent a perfect
week killing penalties and their fourth in the last nine weeks, over which they
are 59-for-70 (84.3 percent), an improvement over their full season penalty
killing rate that was still under 80 percent overall before Week 17 started. The perfect week made the Caps 13-for-14 over
the past two weeks (92.9 percent).
The Caps were efficient as well as effective. They allowed the Flyers and Panthers only 11
shots on goal in 14 minutes of shorthanded ice time in killing seven power
plays.
Faceoffs: 53-for-120 / 44.2 percent (season: 50.8 percent,
rank: 12th)
It was not a good week for the Caps in the circle. They were under 50 percent in both games, and
they were under 50 percent for the week in all three zones. The best they managed was being one-under in
the offensive zone for the week (18-for-37 (48.6 percent). Fortunately, the worst was left in the
neutral zone, where they were 18-for-44 (40.9 percent).
Individually, Nicklas Backstrom had a good week going
16-for-25 overall (64.0 percent) including 7-for-9 in the offensive zone (77.8
percent). No other Capital taking ten or
more draws was over 50 percent, and as a group, Lars Eller, Jay Beagle, and
Evgeny Kuznetsov were 33-for-82 (40.2 percent).
Goals by Period:
The Caps managed comparatively solid work holding teams off
the scoreboard early. They did allow one
first period goal in two games, but that brought their total of first period
goals allowed this season to 37, ten fewer than what they have allowed in the
second periods of games and 12 fewer than in the third periods of games. Those 37 goals allowed is now tied for
tenth-fewest in the league.
The Caps also had a positive goal differential in the second
periods of games this week, a sticking point for the team from time to time
this season. It narrowed their overall
second period goal differential to minus-1.
In the end…
That the Caps are six points clear of the rest of the
division at the All-Star break, despite losing significant players (Matt
Niskanen, T.J. Oshie, Andre Burakovsky) for large parts of the schedule is no
small feat. To do so in arguably the
toughest division in the league and to do so on pace to finish with 49 wins and
105 points is perhaps even more impressive.
Week 17 had that blemish of an overtime loss to a division rival,
but overall they were stingy on defense, had better possession numbers,
dominated shot totals, and had very good special teams play.
And, with just two games in Week 17, the Caps showed enough
discipline and focus to earn points in three of four games played over a 13-day
period. It was the sort of scheduling
quirk that could have resulted in a loss of focus and a bleeding away of the
division lead.
The Caps will start their rush to the trading deadline in a
good position, but there will be a challenge right out of the All-Star
break. With four of their next six games
to be played on home ice, and four of those six games against division rivals
(Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and a home-and-home against Columbus), the object
will be to put some additional distance between themselves and the rest of the
division before they embark on a four-game road trip in the middle of February. And they will have to do so wondering to the extent Evgeny Kuznetsov will be available. Nevertheless, Week 17 set the Caps up to
address that challenge from a position of advantage.
Three Stars:
- First Star: Alex Ovechkin (2-1-3, plus-1, 13th 30-goal season, 500th assist, 12 shots on goal, 17 shot attempts, 4 hits)
- Second Star: Braden Holtby (1-0-1, 2.00, .930)
- Third Star: Evgeny Kuznetsov (0-2-2, even)
