The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!!
The Washington Capitals wrap up their two-game season series against the Anaheim Ducks when the Ducks visit Capital One Arena on Monday night. The Caps will look to avenge a 3-2 overtime loss they suffered in Anaheim on November 16th. The Caps snapped a mini-losing streak of two games with a 3-1 win over Columbus on Saturday night, while the Ducks arrive in DC off a 4-3 Gimmick loss to the Calgary Flames after posting a pair of wins.
The Ducks have been a .500 team on the road (4-4-1), which puts them squarely in the middle of the league in road record, tied for 13th with five other teams in points percentage. Scoring has not been a problem for the Ducks in road games, their 3.40 goals per game tied for third in the league with Calgary in road scoring offense.
Troy Terry continues his surprising year with a 15-10-25, plus-3, overall scoring line and 7-6-13, even, in road scoring. His 15 goals overall match his combined goal output over his first four NHL seasons. And those goal contributions have accompanied Anaheim success, the Ducks going 8-2-3 in the 13 games in which he has goals, 12-4-3 in the 19 games in which he has points. Terry has been a consistent contributor as well, having posted consecutive games without point only once this season. He does come to Washington in a position to make that twice, going pointless in the loss to Calgary last Friday. It would be wise to watch Terry’s ice time. Anaheim has not lost a game in regulation in which he logged at least 20 minutes (5-0-2). The Ducks are 2-4-1 in games in which he skated fewer than 15 minutes. Terry is 0-2-2, plus-3, in three career games against the Caps.
Jamie Drysdale has had a successful sophomore campaign for the Ducks. The sixth-overall pick of the 2020 Entry Draft is third in his draft class in career games played to date (49), tied for fourth in goals (six), fourth in points (21), and tied for second in penalty minutes (12). This season he has already matched last year’s goal total (three) while surpassing last year’s assist total (ten versus five last year) and points (13 versus eight) in just one more game (25) than he logged all of last season (24). Drysdale has been a standout on the road, tied for second in points recorded in road games to date for the Ducks (eight). He comes into this game 2-4-6, plus-1, in his last seven games and 1-5-6, plus-3, in his last five road games. He is without a point and has a rating of even in his only appearance against the Caps.
Josh Manson is not the sort of defenseman to put up much in the way of points. He did not post more than seven games in any of his first seven years in the NHL, all with Anaheim for which he was a sixth-round draft pick in 2001. Only once did he post more than 20 points – 37 with the Ducks in 2017-2018. But he does bring a physical edge to his game. His 987 credited hits over the last seven seasons ranks ninth among the league’s defensemen over that span. His 1,031 hits in his career with Anaheim is second all-time with the club despite playing in only 433 games. There is a loose connection to his propensity to deliver hits and Anaheim success. The Ducks are 7-2-2 when Manson was credited with three or more hits so far this season, 6-6-2 when he recorded fewer. Manson is 0-3-3, plus-5, in nine career games against Washington.
1. The Ducks do not lack for offensive contributions from the blue line. Four of the eight defensemen to dress for Anaheim this season have at least ten points. Four of them have at least three goals.
2. Anaheim spreads things around in power play scoring. Nine skaters have power play goals; 13 have points.
3. The Ducks have two shorthanded goals this season, both scored by Isac Lundestrom.
4. Only Edmonton and Florida have scored more third period goals (34 and 33, respectively) than the Ducks (32).
5. Anaheim is tied for the league lead in one-goal losses (nine; 0-5-4).
1. Washington is one of the teams with which Anaheim is tied for in one-goal losses (nine; 0-3-6).
2. The Caps have the fourth-fewest shorthanded situations faced per game (2.52).
3. Only Minnesota has more wins when outshooting opponents (12) than the Caps (11, tied with Toronto).
4. The Caps have the third-best net penalties (plus-13, tied with Pittsburgh) in the league.
5. Washington gets out in front in games; they are tied for third in first period goals scored (26, with Florida and Minnesota).
The Peerless’ Players to Ponder
Anaheim: Kevin Shattenkirk
Twelve seasons, six teams, including a brief 19-game stint with the Capitals. It has been a long and winding journey for defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk. He has skated for five of those teams over the past six seasons (St. Louis, Washington, New York Rangers, Tampa Bay Lightning, and now the Anaheim Ducks). He could be on the move again after next season, when his current three-year/$11.7 million deal expires. For the time being, though, Shattenkirk leads the Anaheim defense in goals (five), assists (11), and points (16) in 25 games. It is quite a reversal from last season, his first with the Ducks, when he went 2-13-15, minus-8, in 55 games. He might be returning to the level of production that produced a career year in 2016-2017 in which he went a combined 13-43-56 in 80 games for St. Louis and Washington. He has, however, been in a bit of a slump lately, going 1-1-2, minus-5, in his last eight games. Shattenkirk is 1-7-8, minus-4, in 21 career games against the Capitals.
Washington: Evgeny Kuznetsov
Last year was a lost year for Evgeny Kuznetsov. Two tours on the COVID protocol list, a couple of games lost to an upper body injury, 41 games played overall and a 9-20-29, plus-7, season. Not bad as much a considerable disappointment. This year, Kuznetsov might finally be that player whose performance catches up to his skill, the player Caps management and fans have been waiting for since his 27-56-83, plus-3, season in the Caps’ 2017-2018 Stanley Cup year. He is already 8-20-28, plus-14, in just 25 games so far this season, on an 82-game pace (26-66-92, plus-46) that would obliterate that career best season overall.
He has shown an ability to score in bunches this season, too. Kuznetsov has eight multi-point games to his credit through 25 games, including four three-point games. His performance this year has him jumping up the all-time list in a variety of statistical categories for the Caps. Kuznetsov needs three goals to tie Dmitri Khristich for 18th place in goals in Caps history, 22 assists to tie Scott Stevens for tenth place in assists in Caps history, 28 points to catch Calle Johansson for tenth place on the Caps’ all-time points list, one game-winning goal to tie Michal Pivonka for tenth place in team history, all milestones being in reach for Kuznetsov this season. He is 3-6-9, minus-5, in 14 career games against the Ducks.
In the end…
Anaheim missed the playoffs the last three seasons and has not won a playoff series since reaching the conference final in 2017. The Ducks are not that team, not this season. Their offense is up more than a goal per game over last year (3.32 to 2.21), and they have shaved almost a third of a goal per game off their scoring defense (3.16 to 2.88 this year). Their special teams have improved dramatically, the power play up from 8.9 percent to 27.4 percent (third in the league), the penalty kill up from 79.9 percent to 85.1 percent (seventh in the league). They will be no pushover, and the Caps had better be ready.
Capitals 4 – Anaheim 3
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