Record: 1-1-0
Week 14 extended a string of games against Metropolitan
Division rivals to four. When it was
over, the Caps were 6-5-1 overall against the six teams in the Metro they have
faced this season (they have not yet faced Pittsburgh). They have compiled the record by beating each
of the six divisional rivals they have faced once apiece, the win over Carolina
to end the week the Caps’ first in three games against the Hurricanes to date
(1-1-1). The loss to the New York
Islanders to open the week squared the Caps record against the Isles at
1-1-0. The win over Carolina also
enabled the Caps to reach 61 points for the season, tying this year’s team with
the 2016-2017 team (also 28-9-5) for second-most points earned through 42
games, trailing only the 2015-2016 team that had 67 points through 43 games
(32-7-3).
Offense: 3.50/game (season: 3.50/5th)
Two games do not make for great opportunities for offensive
fireworks, but the Caps did manage seven goals in the two games, three in a
loss to the Islanders and four in a win over Carolina. It extended a run of consistency for the
Caps, who finished Week 14 having posted at least three goals in eight of ten
games, averaging 3.30 goals per game over that stretch. The Caps have been even more productive on
the road of late, the four goals in Carolina on Friday giving them 17 goals in
their last four road games since being shut out in Columbus, 3-0, on December
16th.
Evgeny Kuznetsov had the big week for the Caps, recording
three of the team’s seven goals. The
three goals gave him 16 in 39 games this season and have him closing in on the
21 goals he posted in 76 games last season.
He is on a pace to finish with 32 goals, which would be his first
30-goal season in seven years with the Caps.
Four other Caps posted single goals each for the week:
Richard Panik, Lars Eller, Tom Wilson, and Jakub Vrana, whose goal was the
game-winner in the win over Carolina.
Kuznetsov led the club in points for the week (four), while five Caps
had a pair each: Nicklas Backstrom, T.J. Oshie, Alex Ovechkin, Dmitry Orlov,
and Eller.
Defense: 3.50/game (season: 2.93/T-9th)
It was a strange week on the defensive side of the puck, the
Caps allowing four goals and losing in a game in which they allowed only 22
shots on goal; and then allowing three goals and winning on a night when they
allowed 41 shots on goal. The 22 shots
on goal that the Caps allowed to the New York Islanders was the third-lowest
volume of shots allowed in a game this season and a season-low for shots
allowed on home ice. The 41 shots that
Carolina rung up on the Caps was the second-highest volume of shots allowed by
the Caps this season, topped only by the 44 shots allowed to Chicago in a 5-3
win on October 20th. Both
games ended in wins for the Caps.
The shot attempts reflected the same pattern. Against the Isles, against whom the Caps had
a lead for only 3:47 of 60 minutes, the Caps were a plus-32 in shot attempt
differential at 5-on-5 when behind on their way to a plus-33 for the game
(their biggest shot attempt differential at 5-on-5 this season) and allowing
the Islanders only 39 shot attempts at fives.
It was a different story against Carolina, who lit up the Caps for 53
shot attempts, a shot attempt total exceeded on the road only three times this
season, while the minus-19 differential in shot attempts at 5-on-5 was tied for
third-worst for the Caps overall so far this season.
Goaltending: 3.56 / .889 (season: 2.76 / .907)
If not for the excellent play of Ilya Samsonov recently,
especially on the road, the Caps would likely find themselves, if not in
jeopardy of dropping out of a playoff spot, then looking up at one or more
teams in the standings. That is because
Braden Holtby is in something of a funk these days. He allowed four goals on the first 15 shots
he faced on his way to an 18-save effort on 22 shots against the Islanders in
the 4-3 loss to open the week. That
brought Holtby’s record to 2-5-0, 3.71, .871 over his last seven
appearances.
As for Samsonov, he continued his remarkable record on the
road. His 38-save effort in the Caps’
4-3 win in Carolina to end the week brought his overall record to 11-2-1, 2.33,
.918; and his road record to 8-0-0, 2.19, .918. He became the first goalie to
win his first eight road decisions in the NHL in a single season (Brent Johnson
won his first 11 road decisions in the NHL, but those were spread over his
first two seasons). With 11 wins overall
in 15 games, Samsonov tied Jim Bedard for sixth-place in wins by a rookie
goalie in Caps history.
Power Play: 2-for-6/33.3 percent (season: 22.1 percent/10th)
It wasa good week, even if the opportunities on the power
play were on the light side. Against the
Islanders, the Caps were given only two power play chances, failing to convert
on either one. It was the 17th
time this season that the Caps had tw or fewer power play chances, the tenth
time among those instances that they failed to record at least one power play
goal. Oddly enough, it was only the
second time among those ten times being blanked that the Caps lost in regulation,
both times taking place on home ice (the other loss was to Colorado in
October).
The Caps had four chances against Carolina, the 14th
time this season the Caps have had four or more power play opportunities in a
game and the second time in Carolina in a week.
They scored twice on four chances, the sixth time that they scored two
goals when getting four or more power plays (also the second time in Carolina
in a week; they had two on five chances last Saturday).
Overall, the Caps were efficient in shooting, if not in
generating shots with the man advantage.
In 9:26 of power play ice time, the Caps scored twice on seven shots,
recording both goals on just three shots in Carolina with 6:26 of power play
ice time.
Penalty Killing: 6-for-8/75.0 percent (season: 84.2 percent/3rd)
It would have been a great week, efficiency-wise, if the
week was only five periods. The Caps
killed both shorthanded situations against the Islanders to open the week, and
then they were 4-for-4 through two periods of their game against Carolina. The Hurricanes put an end to that with a pair
of power play strikes six minutes apart on two chances in the third period to
make a comfortable 4-1 lead a little too close for comfort.
The two chances the Caps allowed the Islanders was the 12th
time this season the Caps faced two or fewer power plays in a game. As evidence of the best penalty kill being
the one you don’t have to use, the Caps allowed only one goal in those 12 games
in 19 shorthanded situations, that one coming on Opening Night in St. Louis
when the Caps allowed the Blues one goal on two chances. The six chances that the Caps gave to the
Hurricanes was the fifth time this season that Washington faced six or more
shorthanded situations. It was the
second time that the Caps allowed two goals in those instances, and brought the
total to five goals on 33 chances in those five games. That the Caps improved their record to 4-1-0
in those games might be a case of generating false confidence; this does not
seem to be a recipe for success in the long run.
Faceoffs: 53-for-111/47.7 percent (season: 49.4 percent/20th)
It was tale of twos in Week 14 for the Caps. They won one game handily and lost the other
equally so in the faceoff circle; they were good in one end for the week, not
so good in the other. Washington dominated
the Islanders in the first game of the week, winning 31 of 53 draws (58.5
percent), mostly by dominating in the offensive end (16-22/72.7 percent). Against Carolina it was a different story,
the Caps going 22-for-58 (37.9 percent), finishing under 50 percent in all
three zones. As it was, the Caps
finished the week 24-for-41 in the offensive end (58.5 percent), but they were
only 13-for-34 (38.2 perent) in the defensive end.
Individually, Nicklas Backstrom had a very good week in both
ends, going 9-for-13 (69.2 percent) in the offensive end and 5-for-6 in the
defensive end (83.3 percent) on his way to a 17-for-26 week (65.4
percent). He was the only Capital among
three taking at least ten draws to finish over 50 percent for the week.
Goals by Period:
The goals were split equally between the Caps and opponents
for the week, and the goals were spread relatively smoothly among the period
for the Caps and their foes. It was how
the Caps got there, particularly in the goals allowed department, that merited
notice. They started and ended the week
in leaky fashion, allowing the Islanders two first period goals and allowing
the Hurricanes to post three in the third period of their contest.
The Caps could stand to get off to better starts than they
have to date. While they finished the
week with a plus-11 goal differential in each of the second and third periods
of games, the only club with goal differentials greater than plus-10 in both
the second and third periods to date, they have managed only to break even (37
goals for and against) so far.
Year-over-Year:
The Caps have regressed over the past couple of weeks to
resemble more and more last year’s club on a year-over-year basis. The difference is down to two wins and five
standings points over last year’s club, while the scoring for and against is
now almost identical, the difference being on more goal scored this year than
last. The Caps this year continue to
maintain a healthy edge over last year’s squad in shot differential overall and
shot attempt differential at 5-on-5.
Special teams are also better with this year’s group, particularly on
the penalty kill, which is more than six percentage points clear of last year’s
squad and is one of the best units in the league. There is, however, the matter of penalties,
which are up more than eight percent over last year, and penalty minutes, up by
more than 16 percent over last year at a similar point of the season.
In the end…
The Caps have gotten a head start on the long barren slog of
the winter months with only one regulation win in their last five games
(2-3-0). But every team goes through
this at some point. Well, perhaps not
Tampa Bay last year, although they saved their cold spell for when it counted
in the spring. It makes all those points
the Caps banked early, especially on the road, important as they try to keep
the Islanders, Penguins, and Hurricanes small images in their rear-view mirror.
Three Stars:
- First Star: Evgeny Kuznetsov (1-3-4, even, 5 shots on goal, 6 shot attempts)
- Second Star: Ilya Samsonov (1-0-0, 3.02, .927)
- Third Star: Lars Eller (1-1-2, plus-4, 3 shots on goal)
Captain rates the week…
Two puppers
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