Record (1-1-1)
The Caps earned three points in as many games in Week 8, but it did not seem even that good overall. After hammering the Vancouver Canucks, 5-1, on the road to open the week, the Caps looked as if they would make it two in a row for the week when they took a 2-1 lead against the Kraken in Seattle into the final three minutes of regulation. But the Kraken tied the contest with less than three minutes to go, then they won the game when the Caps fell all over their own skates off the opening faceoff of overtime to allow the game-winning goal seven seconds into the extra period. That was followed by a disaster of a game against the Calgary Flames, a 5-2 loss in which the Caps lost number one goaltender Darcy Kuemper to an upper-body injury (apparently entering concussion protocol after an elbow to the head) and defenseman Martin Fehervary to another upper-body injury (suspected to be an arm injury). The lackluster week dropped the Caps to sixth in the Metropolitan Division, six points behind Pittsburgh for fourth place with the Penguins holding a game in hand.
Offense: 3.00/game (season: 2.73 / 27th)
It was a week on offense that reflected the record – neither good nor bad, but very much uneven. More than half the week’s worth of goals came in the opening contest, the Caps lighting up the Vancouver Canucks for five goals in a 5-1 win. Only five Caps recorded goals in the three games, but they had balance with four of them recording two apiece – Alex Ovechkin, Martin Fehervary, Conor Sheary, and John Carlson. Anthony Mantha had the other tally. Ovechkin led the team with four points, 12 Caps recording at least one overall. The five goals that the Caps scored against the Canucks was the fifth time they recorded five or more goals in a game this season, the second time on the road (6-3 over New Jersey on October 24th). On the other side, the two goals the Caps recorded against Seattle and Calgary were the 13th and 14th instances of scoring two or fewer goals through 26 games. No team finished Week 8 with more such instances than the Caps this season (tied with Philadelphia, Anaheim, and the New York Rangers).
Defense: 3.00 / game (season: 3.12 / 15th)
Another not good/not bad week, just a mirror image of the offense. The Caps allowed only two goals in the first 117:33 of the week, a superb record of defensive effectiveness. However, in the last 62:34 of the week, they allowed seven goals (one empty-netter), not nearly as good. It was a brutal week for John Carlson. Of the seven goals scored at even strength (six at 5-on-5), Carlson was on ice for six of them. Only one defenseman in the league appearing in three games in Week 8 was on ice for more goals (Seth Jones: seven). At the other end, Martin Fehervary, who departed early in the final game of the week with an injury, was not on ice for any even strength goals. Among the forwards, Aliaksei Protas, Nic Dowd, Garnet Hathaway and Anthony Mantha dressed for all three games and avoided being nicked for an even strength goal against while on ice.
Goaltending: 2.69 / .913 (season: 2.82 / .908 / 2 shutouts)
The performance was not bad, but that is not the takeaway coming out of Week 8. Darcy Kuemper was elbowed in the head late in the second period of the Caps’ 5-2 loss to Calgary on Saturday night, and although he remained in the game briefly, he took himself out and did not return. It would be no understatement that the Caps’ season might rest on how soon he returns to the lineup. With apologies to backup Charlie Lindgren, there just is not enough in his resume to suggest he would be a reliable number one goalie over an extended stretch. That is not to say he could not, it is just that with only 37 games on his NHL resume, there is not very much evidence one way or another.
As for the performance in Week 8, Kuemper had a very good week until his injury, going 1-0-1, 2.31, .928 in 155 minutes of play. For his part, Lindgren was 0-1-0, 5.26, .778, in just under 23 minutes of action. Combined, the Caps goalies were very good over 40 minutes, posting a combined .933 save percentage in the first periods of games (all from Kuemper), a .941 save percentage in the second period of games (both goalies getting minutes), but then dropping to a .889 save percentage in the third periods of games, and Kuemper allowed a goal on the only shot he faced in overtime in the 3-2 loss to Seattle.
Power Play: 2-for-9 / 22.2 percent (season: 20.7 percent / 21st)
It was a decent week for the man advantage, but a strange one. In how many weeks would one find the Caps scoring multiple power play goals, Alex Ovechkin getting neither of them, and Conor Sheary doing the honors on both? Those two power play goals for Sheary were his first two man-advantage goals this season and match his total for last year. The two goals came on Sheary’s only two power ply shots for the week. Five Capitals recorded power play points for the week. In addition to Sheary’s two goals, Sonny Milano, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Marcus Johansson, and Alex Ovechkin added assists. Six Caps recorded power play shots on goal, Ovechkin with five and T.J. Oshie with four.
Penalty Killing 7-for-8 / 87.5 percent (season: 80.5 percent / 7th)
The Caps had an effective penalty kill in Week 8, their second consecutive week over 85 percent and third in four weeks. What might have been the best thing to come out of the week was that the Caps allowed only 2.67 power play chances per game and have allowed a total of 17 in their last six games. The best penalty kill is the one you do not have to use. If there was a nugget of strangeness on an individual level, it was that the only shorthanded shot on goal was recorded by defenseman Nick Jensen. Another oddity was that the ice time leader was not a defenseman, but was center Nic Dowd, who skated 6:16 on the penalty kill for the week.
Faceoffs: 88-for-164 / 53.7 percent (season: 48.1 percent / 23rd)
The Capitals continue to improve in this area, but they are demonstrating that faceoff success and its influence on wins and losses is not a strong one. This week’s overall numbers might have overstated the performance in the circle, though. Washington did win a majority of draws in the offensive zone (52.6 percent), but they lagged in the defensive end (45.2 percent). The neutral zone numbers (65.2 percent) pushed the Caps well over the 50 percent mark for the week.
On an individual level, two Caps finished over 60 percent overall for the week – Dylan Strome and Nic Dowd. But their numbers were influenced by each of them going 7-for-9 in the neutral zone (77.8 percent). Strome did win almost 70 percent of his offensive zone draws, though (15-22/68.2 percent). Evgeny Kuznetsov won 57.1 percent of his offensive zone faceoffs.
Goals by Period
Things started well for the Caps in games, which is the best that can be said in this category. But while they recorded six first period goals for the week, that was two-thirds of the goal total for the week. The first period goal total was more than half what they had going into the week for the season (11). They remain tied for 23rd in the league in first period goals scored. What might be more important is the Caps’ inability to keep teams from scoring in the third periods of games. They allowed four third period goals in Week 8, double what they allowed in the combined first and second periods for the week. It left them with 33 third period goals allowed for the week, tied for sixth-most in the league.
Year-over-Year
Week by week, the Caps fall further and further behind last year’s team in terms of performance in discrete categories. Wins, points, scoring offense and defense, shots for and against, penalty kill, shot attempts-for at even strength, all worse this year than last. And even those categories in which the Caps’ volumes exceed last year’s are in categories where less is probably better – hits, blocked shots, takeaways, and penalties – either evidence of not having the puck or playing in an undisciplined fashion.
In the end…
Caps fans would be forgiven if they think things are starting to slip away on this season. There are still more than 50 games to go, but time goes by quickly when a team is chasing a playoff spot and finds itself having to climb over more than one team to get there, which is where the Caps find themselves. This team just does not score enough, cannot seem to hold leads or sustain efforts over 60 minutes, and now is wondering if their number one goalie is going to be sidelined or perhaps of diminished performance for a spell after an injury. Things started poorly for the Caps this season with the injuries to critical pieces to start the year, and things are not getting better. Let’s hope Santa’s elves are working on more wins for the Caps up in the North Pole workshop.
Three Stars
- First Star: Alex Ovechkin (2-2-4, plus-1, one game-winning goal, 11 shots on goal, 27 shot attempts)
- Second Star: Conor Sheary (2-1-3, minus-2, 11 shots on goal, 14 shot attempts)
- Third Star: Martin Fehervary (2-0-2, plus-3, four shots on goal, six hits, five blocked shots)
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