“All the things one has forgotten scream for help in
dreams.”
-- Elias Canetti
The comings and goings in 2014-2015 did not occur as
frequently as the departures and arrivals last season.In fact, the roster movement of players in
and out of the organization took place in a very small window of time, 48 hours
to be exact.On February 28th, the Caps
sent defenseman Jack Hillen and a fourth-round draft pick to the Carolina
Hurricanes for defenseman Tim Gleason.The next day, the Caps sent second- and third-round draft picks to the
Calgary Flames for forward Curtis Glencross.
Jack Hillen (35 games, 0-5-5, plus-1)
Jack Hillen might be the most star-crossed player for the
Capitals in recent memory.In his first
season with the club, he last six shifts into his first game before he was
knocked out of the contest (and for almost two months out of the lineup) with a shoulder injury.
In his second season with the club, he made it to the second game of the season
– barely.He skated three shifts against
the Calgary Flames before he broke his leg on a check from Lance Bouma.That injury cost Hillen five months of the
season.Then, in March 2014, he was concussed after colliding with teammate Alex Ovechkin and missed the last nine
games of the season.
This season it was not injuries as much as the newly
acquired depth the Caps had on the blue line that kept him out of the
lineup.He appeared in just 35 of the
Caps’ first 67 games before being sent to Carolina where he (of course) was
injured, a concussion that cost him the last 19 games of the season. It was
unfortunate for the Caps, since Hillen was not a bad depth defenseman.In 71 games with the club he was 3-12-15,
plus-6.His possession numbers did leave
something to be desired, though.He
managed a Corsi-for percentage at 5-on-5 above 50 percent in his first season
with the club (51.2), but he was well under that threshold in his last two
seasons (42.9/47.4), and his Corsi percentage (relative) was similarly
unimpressive over time (+0.6/-5.9/-4.6).
Photo: Elsa/Getty Images North America
*****
Tim Gleason (17 games, 0-2-2, plus-5)
You might have thought swapping out Jack Hillen for Tim
Gleason was a trade of a brittle, puck-moving defender for a sturdy, physical
presence on the blue line.You might
want to rethink that.Since playing in
82 games in the 2011-2012 season with the Hurricanes, Gleason appeared in 98 of
a possible 130 games the next two seasons.This year he dressed for 55 of 60 games with Carolina before he was
traded to Washington.He appeared in 17
of 19 games for the Caps, and his numbers painted an discouraging picture.He contributed virtually no offense (two
assists in 17 regular season games), which was not unexpected. However, his underlying numbers were mediocre
despite getting third pair minutes.His
Corsi-for percentage at 5-on-5 was 50.6, but his Corsi-for (relative) was
minus-3.1.It got worse in the playoffs.He had one assist in 14 games, and the Corsi
numbers were lower: 44.9 percent/minus-6.9 (numbers from war-on-ice.com).Sometimes trade deadline deals catch lightning in a bottle.Sometimes they drive you to the bottle.This one was closer to the latter.
Photo: Kirk Irwin/Getty Images North America
*****
Curtis Glencross (18 games, 4-3-7, minus-1)
Curtis Glencross once scored 26 goals and had 48 points in a
season.Trouble is, he did that at age
29 with the 2011-2012 Calgary Flames.When he came to Washington for a pair of draft picks at the trading
deadline, he was 9-19-28 in 53 games with the Flames, part of a declining trend
in goals and points production from that career high year.He did get off to a fast start with his new
team, going 2-2-4, plus-2, in his first two games with the Caps.However, he was 2-1-3, minus-3, over the last
16 games of the regular season.That
would look productive against his postseason numbers of 1-0-1, minus-5, in 10
games, including the moment when he became a Cap, and Caps fans had a feeling
things would not end well in the series against the Rangers:
Photo: Richard Wolowicz/Getty Images North America
Fearless’ Take:I got
nuthin’.I can’t make this vomit-covered
Twinkie look like Michelangelo’s “David.”
Cheerless’ Take:.Ya
win some, ya lose some.Seems like the
Caps and their fans lose a whole lot more than “some” and win a lot less than
“some.”
In the end…
Let’s face it, the comings and goings did not have their
intended effect.Washington rarely goes
for the big splash at the trading deadline, and they had no activity otherwise, other than
those couple of deadline deals.In a way, it
ties the knot in the season that two deadline acquisitions should figure in on
what might have been the worst single play of the season – the Glencross
turnover in overtime that turned into a Ryan McDonagh shot that glanced off
Gleason and behind goalie Braden Holtby that gave the Rangers a 2-1 win in Game
5 and started another “3-1 lead blown” scenario for the Caps in the postseason.
This is one aspect of the season that might best be
forgotten.
“We should not moor a ship with one anchor, or our life with
one hope.”
-- Epictetus
Last season when we came to this portion of the show, we had
Evgeny Kuznetsov, Michael Latta, and Patrick Wey to talk about.
Kuznetsov had a solid rookie season this year, Latta filled in as a role player
with a lot of games played.Wey might
have gotten a bit more of a look than he got last season, but two concussions,
the more recent of which was suffered this past October, limited him to a total of three games this season with the Hershey Bears.All things considered, the Caps saw positive
movement as a group from last season’s harbingers of hope.
The other five rookies had very limited exposure to the NHL
this season.
Liam O’Brien (13 games, 1-1-2, plus-4, 23 PIMs)
It is not unheard of for a little-known prospect to be
invited to a club’s development camp, make an impression, and parlay that into
an invitation to training camp in the fall.Liam O’Brien did just that.The
undrafted forward from Nova Scotia did make an impression in development camp
last July and did get an invitation to training camp.He did not stop there.Michael Latta described him as “like a dog on a leash.”
His unbridled enthusiasm for wreaking havoc, not to mention recording a Gordie
Howe Hat Trick in a preseason game against the Boston Bruins allowed O’Brien to
author the most unlikely story from training camp.
He made the Opening Night roster and was in the lineup against the Montreal
Canadiens.
He recorded his first NHL goal (against Vancouver) and an
assist over his first eight games, all in a fourth line role.However, he did not record a point over his
next four games, not reaching the seven minute mark in ice time over his last
three.After 13 appearances, only one of
them over an 11-game span from November 14th through December 6th,
he was reassigned to Hershey.Not that
he didn’t leave an impression.Coach Barry Trotz said of him:
“He’s a 20-year-old.“He’s
not even the same player he was at development camp. He’s so much better, he’s
so much more prepared, he’s very mature. I think he’s going to have a pretty
good career. I need him to play. I said, ‘It’s no fun just practicing. You need
to play and be a part of that.’ I said, ‘I’m very conscious of you being a
long-term Capital player with the right DNA to have success.’ We’ll just play
it one day at a time with him. His head is in a good place.”
O’Brien played 45 games at Hershey, finishing the season
4-4-8, minus-5, with 121 penalty minutes.
Photo: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images North America
*****
Chris Brown (5 games, 1-0-1, plus-1, 2 PIMs)
Chris Brown is the only player remaining from the Caps’
ending the sad saga of Martin Erat’s stay in Washington.
He appeared in six games to close the 2013-2014 season, and that would be more
than he got this season.He appeared in
only five of the Caps first 18 games of the season, getting a total of 32:18 in
ice time.He was on the roster largely
to fill a roster spot that would have been held by Tom Wilson, but Wilson was
still recuperating from an off-season injury.With one goal and two penalty minutes on his resume over his five
appearances, he was assigned to Hershey in late November.In 64 games with the Bears he was 17-11-28,
plus-3, with 70 penalty minutes.
Before this season, Cameron Schilling had the misfortune of
appearing in one game in each of the previous two seasons, both times a witness
to the Caps being shut out.This season
he got the call in February to join the club to fill in for injured Mike
Green.He did not record a point in
13-plus minutes of ice time, but he did get to participate in a win, a 3-2
Gimmick win over the Ducks.Alas, in his
other three appearances the Caps were defeated, but at least they were not shut
out in any of the losses.Schilling was
assigned to Hershey on March 13th, where he finished the season with
the Bears.He played in 63 games with
the Bears, going 3-15-18, plus-14, with 63 penalty minutes.
Photo: Amber Searls-USA TODAY Sports
*****
Stanislav Galiev (2 games, 1-0-1, plus-1, 0 PIMs)
That Stan Galiev appeared in a game at all this season for
the Caps is a reflection of his determination.At 23 years of age, almost five years since he was a third-round draft
pick of the Caps, it looked as if the term “prospect” was fading next to his
name.With the season winding down and a
vacancy opening up when Tom Wilson took a puck to the head against Detroit,
Galiev was called up from Hershey in early April.It was the proverbial “cup o’ coffee.”In two games he skated a total of 18:46,
recorded two shots on goal, but did take away the memory of his first NHL goal,
a late power play goal in a 4-2 loss to the New York Rangers on the last day of
the regular season. He earned the promotion with a fine season in Hershey,
tying for the team lead in goals (25), 15 of them on the power play to lead the
AHL.
*****
Philipp Grubauer (1 game, 1-0-0, 1.85, .920)
Last season, Philipp Grubauer appeared in 17 games, one of
four Caps goaltenders to appear in more than ten games.That not-so-merry-go-round did not repeat a
turn this season, what with Braden Holtby getting 73 games.Grubauer did get into two games, though.One was the product of the schedule.The Caps had back-to-back games in early
February, and after beating the Ottawa Senators in the first of those games,
the opportunity presented itself for Grubauer to get a recall start in the
follow-up game against the Ducks.He
stopped 23 of 25 shots in regulation and overtime, then stuffed Ryan Kesler in
the third round of the freestyle competition to give the Caps a 3-2 win.
His second game came under less predictable, yet
higher-stakes circumstances, Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinal playoff
series against the New York Islanders.Braden Holtby was taken ill and could not start.Grubauer manned the net with the Caps down a
game to the Isles.It was not a
masterful effort on Grubauer’s part – he allowed three goals in the first 34
minutes of the game.But he closed the
door after that, allowing the Caps to erase a two-goal deficit, and Washington
won, 4-3, to tie a series they would go on to win in seven games.
Photo: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images North America
*****
Fearless’ Take:Grubauer is the class of this “Hope” class, and his just-signed contract
with the club is a clear signal that his apprenticeship in Hershey is at an
end. He has passed just about every test in coming
through the development pipeline, and he has been a solid performer in his
assignments with the Caps.
Cheerless’ Take: The skaters all have pretty nice stories,
but that’s not usually a selling point to get playing time at this level.Galiev probably moved furthest this season,
putting himself back in the mix of young forwards who could get a call-up to
the team next season.But it is hard to
see how any of these four skaters get a long stretch of games with the Caps
unless injuries hit the team hard.
In the end…
Not every rookie class is going to have the same
promise.Last year’s, with Kuznetsov
finally making it to the Caps’ lineup after years of waiting, was a decent
class.This year’s class does not appear
to have that level of potential. It would appear that it is at goaltender, with
Grubauer, where hope lies for contributions in the future.
“The voyage of discovery is not in seeking new landscapes
but in having new eyes.”
-- Marcel Proust
There is perhaps no position in major team sports that is as
different from the other positions on a team as that of ice hockey goaltender
from the skating positions.The
goaltender looks different, plays in a closely circumscribed area of the ice,
takes almost no part in offense, does not play in shifts.It contributes to the notion that
goaltenders, if they are not a bit odd, then they are in need of special
attention… or perhaps informed attention.
In 2013-2014, Washington Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby
got special attention. It did not have the intended effect.The power that was, despite not having played
a minute at the position in the NHL, imposed a style on goaltenders that
conflicted with Holtby’s style and temperament. Holtby was conflicted:
“Nothing against what the philosophy was with the
changes.I think it just had to do with
my personality, my natural instincts that didn’t quite coincide with the
changes, and that led to a lot of second-guessing myself and a lot of
overthinking things. The moment you start doing that you start to struggle, and
once you struggle, obviously your confidence goes down a bit.”
The effects of the changes showed.Despite appearing in 12 more games than he
did in 2012-2013, Holtby finished with the same number of wins (23).His goals against rose (from 2.58 to 2.85),
and his save percentage sank (from .920 to .915).He did not go more than three consecutive
full games allowing two or fewer goals.He allowed five goals in seven of his 48 appearances. If he was not a wreck, he was not giving a comfortable vibe
that he was going to be the goalie of the future for the club.
Then, the Caps made wholesale changes behind the bench,
relieving the entire coaching staff of their responsibilities and installing
Barry Trotz as head coach under new general manager Brian MacLellan.Perhaps the most important subsequent hire
for the coaching staff was bringing on former Nashville Predator and Buffalo
Sabres goaltending coach Mitch Korn, a coach with a reputation for some odd
methods but, more important, one of getting results. Korn was the overseer of
some very accomplished goalies – Dominik Hasek, Pekka Rinne, and Tomas Vokoun
among them.In Washington, his task
would be to scrape the crud off Holtby’s game and make use of the skills and
temperament he brought to the rink.
You could say it worked.Whether it was Korn’s guidance or Holtby’s maturity (probably
considerable helpings of both), Holtby took his place among the best in the
game.His rankings across the
statistical spectrum were impressive:
Games: 73 (1st)
Minutes: 4,247 (1st)
Wins: 41 (T-2nd)
Goals Against Average: 2.22 (5th)
Save Percentage: .923 (8th)
Shutouts: 9 (T-2nd)
Save Percentage, even strength: .929 (10th; minimum: 41
games)
Save Percentage, shorthanded: .889 (8th, minimum: 41 games)
Fearless’ Take: Since the 2004-2005 lockout, 226 goaltenders
have appeared in at least one NHL game.Of that group, 11 played in as many or more games in a season as Braden
Holtby did in 2014-2015. Of that subgroup of 11, only three had goals against averages lower than
Holtby’s 2.22.
Of that trio, none had a save percentage better than Holtby’s .923.
Cheerless’ Take:There were 34 goalies appearing in at least 10 overtime games.Of that group, Holtby finished 32nd in save
percentage in the extra five minutes (.816).Only four goalies faced more shots than the 38 Holtby faced in the extra
frame, and he tied Kari Lehtonen for the most overtime goals allowed (7).
Odd Holtby Fact: Since 2011-2012 (Holtby’s rookie season),
only two goaltenders have appeared in more than 20 postseason games, have a
goals against average of less than 2.00, and have a save percentage better than
.935: Boston’s Tuukka Rask (1.92/.936 in 34 games) and Holtby (coincidentally,
1.92/.936 in 34 games).That’s not even
the odd part.Rask is 21-13, with a
Stanley Cup finals appearance, while Holtby is 16-18 and has not played in the
third round of any of his three postseasons.
Game to Remember: April 5th versus Detroit.The Capitals were on the brink of clinching a
playoff spot when they headed to Detroit for Game 80 of the season.The Red Wings were still in need of clinching
a spot.It made for a playoff-like sort
of game, right down the close, low-scoring aspect of it.Evgeny Kuznetsov gave the Caps a lead in the
fourth minute of the game on a power play, and Holtby made it stand up with ten
saves in the period.The Caps added to
the lead on a Mike Green goal in the second, but Darren Helm solved Holtby on a
power play 13 minutes into the period.Then, disaster bordering on catastrophe struck.Green took a penalty late in the period to
put the Caps a man down, then Troy Brouwer took one 30 seconds later to give
the Wings a 5-on-3 advantage.Less than
15 seconds after Brouwer went to the box, Holtby made an awkward save on a Marek Zidlicky shot that left him in distress and attended to by trainer Greg Smith.
Holtby remained in the contest and denied the Wings the tying goal on the power
play, then shut out the Red Wings over the rest of the contest.He turned away 35 of 36 shots overall,
leading the Caps to within a point of clinching a playoff spot (they would
clinch later that evening when Toronto beat Ottawa).It was 100th NHL win and made him fastest to
100 wins in team history.
Game to Forget: October 14th versus San Jose.Sometimes a goalie is going to get lit
up.If they play long enough, it’s part
of the bargain.Sometimes, though, when a
goalie gets shelled you look at who did the shelling, and you mutter, “what
the #@$%?”That was the third game of
the season for the Caps. The Sharks scored on their second shot of the game,
courtesy of Matt Irwin, who had eight goals in 100 career games to that
point.Then San Jose scored on their
fourth shot.Irwin again.He had two goals in 62 games the previous
season and had two on two shots in a space of 3:13.You couldn’t think it could get worse.It did.Historians will note that John Scott, he of two goals and 430 penalty
minutes in 236 NHL games with four different teams (the Sharks being his
fifth) coming into this game, ripped a shot past Holtby’s left elbow off a turnover.He was pretty happy…
Holtby was not.He
was relieved by Justin Peters, who played well enough to get the Caps to a
shootout, where San Jose won, winning the game, 6-5.
Postseason: 6-7, 1.71, .944, 1 shutout
It was arguably Braden Holtby’s best postseason performance
in his brief career to date. In 10 of the 13 games in which he played (he
missed one to illness) he allowed two or fewer goals and had a record of 6-4 in
those games.But here is the thing.He was 0-4 in games in which he allowed two
goals, 6-0 when he allowed one or none.That’s like the pitcher with an ERA of 1.80 who has a .500 record.No run, or in this case, goal support.Think about that.Holtby won every game in which he allowed one
or no goals; he did not win a single contest when he allowed more than one
goal.Even when it’s the Caps that have
a hot goalie, they can’t win.
In the end…
For Braden Holtby, this season might best be described as
the best season for a goaltender in recent memory who was not a Vezina Trophy
finalist.He was that good.He had to be, since the Caps did not get as
sturdy a performance from backup goaltenders as they might have liked
(OK…backup).He set a franchise record with 27 consecutive
appearances, during which he made 21 consecutive starts, one off the club
record.He would take that record for
himself later when he started the Caps’ last 25 games in succession.
However, playing more than 4,200 regular season minutes this
season made him one of 13 goalies since the 2004-2005 lockout to record that
many minutes. Only three – Martin
Brodeur, Miikka Kiprusoff, and Roberto Luongo – did it in consecutive seasons
(Brodeur and Luongo did it three straight years, Kiprusoff did it an amazing
five straight seasons).It might not be
a plan, though, even if Holtby maintains that he thrives on the work.
If a Hart Trophy winner is, as the citation reads, “the
player judged most valuable to his team,” Holtby’s credentials make a strong
argument that he was that for the Capitals.Without the season he had, the Caps would not get within a time zone of
the playoffs unless there was magic done by the front office to find a reliable
goaltender (unless you think Philipp Grubauer was ready to handle a 60-game
load in the regular season).
The season might have seemed especially sweet for the
difficulties he had to endure in the 2013-2014 season.Holtby discovered new parts of his game with
the help of the new eyes that goalie coach Mitch Korn brought to the team, but
the talent, it appears, was there all along.
“The investor of today does not profit from yesterday's
growth.”
-- Warren Buffett
In the ten seasons since the 2004-2005 lockout, six players
in the NHL amassed 300 or more penalty minutes over their first two
seasons.Here is the list, in order of
their accomplishment:
2006-2008: Dan Carcillo (398)
2006-2008: Shane O’Brien (330)
2006-2008: Zack Stortini (306)
2007-2009: Jared Boll (406)
2011-2013: Zac Rinaldo (317)
2013-2015: Tom Wilson (323)
Which of these players does not belong on this list?The first five of those players average
having been taken as mid-fifth round picks (139th overall, to be precise), and
none of them were taken higher than the third round, 73rd overall (Carcillo).
On the other hand, Tom Wilson was a first round, 16th
overall pick taken by the Washington Capitals in the 2012 draft.He was taken before Teuvo Teravainen, before
Olli Maatta, before Tanner Pearson.Not
that he has been a bust after two seasons (he does rank 11th in career points
in his 2012 draft class), but with 149 regular season and 16 playoff games now
under his belt, the ability to pile up penalty minutes cannot be the limit of
his performance.
As for his 2014-2015 contribution to his resume, if got off
to a slow start owing to a broken fibula his suffered over the summer. He missed the Caps’ first eight games and ten
of their first 16 contests.Still, he
was one of only 15 players age 20 or younger (on February 1st) who appeared in
65 or more games this season (source: hockey-reference.com).
If there was an odd part of his game, it was not that his
offensive contributions were meager (4-13-17), it was that they had an odd
relationship to the Caps’ success on the ice.Washington was 1-3-0 in games in which Wilson scored a goal, but 9-0-2
in which he had at least one assist without scoring a goal (the Caps were
10-3-2 in the 15 games in which he recorded a point).
Then there was the more-is-less aspect to his ice time.In the nine games in which Wilson skated 15
or more minutes, the Caps were 3-4-2.In
the 26 games in which he recorded less than ten minutes of ice time, Washington
was 15-8-3.
There was also the matter of the 12 fights he had this
season.Did they make a difference?Or, at the very least, were they accompanied
by success on the scoreboard.Not so
much, really.The Caps were 6-4-2 in
games in which Wilson recorded a fighting major.Breaking that down further (and take this
with a large subjective grain of salt), based on the decisions as rendered by the voters at hockeyfights.com, it was 3-3-0 in fights that Wilson “won,” 3-1-2 in those he did not.
Fearless’ Take: In 40 years of Capitals hockey, only 12
players have recorded more points over their first two seasons before reaching
the age of 21 than Wilson (27). Only three – Gaetan Duchesne, Bob Carpenter,
and Scott Stevens – appeared in more than the 149 games in which Wilson has
appeared.
Cheerless’ Take: Tom Wilson has more penalty minutes over
his two-year career (323) than the next four players in the 2012 draft class in
PIMs: Jacob Trouba (89), Alex Galchenyuk (85), Nail Yakupov (78), and Hampus
Lindholm (68).Wilson has done it is 149
games, the other four in a total of 671 man-games.He is tied for third in total games with at
least five penalty minutes charged against him (30).Every fifth game, he’s spending five or more
minutes in the penalty box?It’s going
to be hard developing those other skills when he’s on the wrong side of the
glass.
Odd Wilson Fact: The longest that Tom Wilson went without a
point this season was 11 games, from December 16th through January 10th.The Caps went 8-0-3 in those games.He missed one game entirely in that span, the
Caps’ only regulation loss over that period, a 4-2 loss to the Rangers.
Game to Remember: December 13th versus Tampa Bay.It might have been just another night like
many others in the early stages of Tom Wilson’s career.Barely 100 seconds into the game he got into
a scrap with the Lightning’s Brenden Morrow after the latter took exception to
a hit Wilson put on teammate Anton Stralman at the Capitals’ bench.Wilson made short work of Morrow, sending him
to the ice during the bout, and Wilson had his sixth fighting major of the
season.It would not be his only
contribution, though, even if more would take some time in coming.He was credited with an assist when a shot by
Nate Schmidt hit him on the way through to goalie Ben Bishop.It was enough to force Bishop to make an
awkward save, the rebound finding its way to Nicklas Backstrom, who snapped a
backhand shot over Bishop’s left shoulder to give the Caps a 1-0 lead.
Eight minutes later it was Backstrom feeding Wilson as he
was heading into the Tampa Bay zone.Wilson dropped a pass for Backstrom, who fired a shot that Bishop
knocked down.Alex Ovechkin could not
poke in the rebound, but Backstrom filled in an did just that, drawing the puck
back from behind the goal line next to the cage and culing it around the pipe
to put the Caps up 2-0 in what would be a 4-2 win. Wilson finished with his fighting major, a
hit, and a takeaway, and his second two-point game of the season.
Game to Forget: April 2nd versus Montreal.In the last week of the regular season, you
are getting ready for the playoffs and eager to put to the test the skills you
have developed and honed over the course of the season.In this game, though, Tom Wilson did not get
the time to hone much of anything.He
skated only six shifts – only one after the 9:18 mark of the second period –
and did not record a shot attempt in his 4:14 of total ice time, his lowest
mark of the season in what would be a 5-4 Gimmick win for the Caps.
Postseason: 0-1-1, minus-2, 25 PIMs
Perhaps it says something that Tom Wilson, a month after the
Capitals were eliminated from the playoffs, is still ranked tenth in total
penalty minutes in the postseason.Then
again, he earned those 25 minutes playing in more games than six of the nine
players ahead of him.In terms of time
on ice, Wilson ranks 327th of 339 skaters in the post season in ice time per
game (through Sunday).It did not leave him much of an
opportunity to make a contribution, and those results were mixed.It was his hit on New York Islander defenseman
Lubomir Visnovsky late in the second period of Game 4 of the opening round that
might have tipped the balance of power to the Capitals.In the second round against the New York
Rangers, his assist on a Curtis Glencross goal in the third period of Game 5
might have been a highlight, but it was forgotten when the Capitals let the 1-0
lead slip away in the last two minutes and the game itself in overtime.
In the end…
In Tom Wilson’s first game of the season he skated 11 shifts
over 8:14 of total ice time, recording no points, one shot on goal, and four
hits in a 4-2 loss to the Detroit Red Wings on October 29th.In his last regular season game of the year
he skated against those same Red Wings, getting 10 shifts over 7:26 of ice
time, recording no points, with three shots on goal and two hits.
Except for the puck to the head in the third period that
ended his day (and his regular season), there was a certain – and unwelcome –
sameness to it, and not just with respect to the opponent.Wilson has mastered the more violent aspects
of the game, but it is a hard way to make a living, and it should not be the
limit of expectations for a 16th overall draft pick.
It would be hard to say, other than a learning experience,
that this was a good year for Tom Wilson.Not all of it was due to circumstances under his control.He does not dictate deployments, except to
force a coach’s hand by producing well.Then again, he did spend almost half of his even-strength minutes for
the season with Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom (source:
stats.hockeyanalysis.com).And, he did
give hints of better production in his underlying numbers.
However, Wilson has done about as much growing as possible
into the “power” part of being a “power forward.”Going forward, investments in time and
diligence will have to be made in the higher-skill portion of his game to make
that use of the 16th overall pick in 2012 one with value.
Grade: B-
Photo: Richard Wolowicz/Getty Images North America
“Forward, as occasion offers. Never look round to see
whether any shall note it... Be satisfied with success in even the smallest
matter, and think that even such a result is no trifle.”
-- Marcus Aurelius
If you look at Joel Ward’s 2014-2015 season, it looks a lot
like his 2013-2014 season in a lot of respects:
Games played: 82 last year, 82 this year
Shots on goal: 133 last year, 138 this year
Time on ice per game: 16:04 last year, 16:51 this year
Power play goals: 6 last year, 6 this year
Power play points: 10 last year, 11 this year
Game-winning goals: 4 last year, 4 this year
Penalty minutes: 32 last year, 30 this year
There were, however, subtle changes that diverged in terms
of his performance and production.His
performance numbers – goals, assists, points, plus-minus – all dropped from
last season to this.Ward finished with
19 goals this season after posting 24 last year, 15 assists compared to 25, 34
points versus 49, and a plus-minus of minus-4 after last season’s plus-7.
The problem reflected itself in the ten-game segments.But even there, the results are odd.First there was the scoring portion of Ward’s
season.In his first two and last two
ten-game segments he was 14-7-21.In the
middle four segments he was 5-8-13.It
was similar to last season: 16-13-29 in his first two and last two segments,
8-12-20 in his middle four segments.For
a second year he had a goal-scoring drought in the middle of the season, except
that this season his performance paled in the same segments compared to last
season.
Then there was the plus-minus.Last year, Ward started slowly in that
maligned measure, going minus-3 in his first four ten-game segments before
finishing with a strong plus-10 in his last four segments.This season Ward struggled in this measure at
the beginning (minus-2 in the first two segments) and at the end (minus-5 in
the last two segments), and was a plus-3 in the middle.
Then there were the underlying numbers, which told a story
in reverse.Ward’s overall Corsi-for
percentages this season (49.9) were a bit higher than they were last season
(47.2), yet his PDO numbers were down (from 102.3 to 101.0).At 5-on-5 the differences were greater; a
50.1 Corsi-for percentage versus 47.4 percent last season, but a PDO that
dropped from 102.7 last season to 99.2 this season.Much of that can be attributed to his own
shooting efficiency, down from 18.0 percent overall last season to 13.8 this
season and from 14.7 percent at 5-on-5 last season to 9.5 percent last season
(numbers from war-on-ice.com).Put
another way, last year was something of an aberration, Ward having an
uncommonly good (or luck) shooting year.
Fearless’ Take: As it was, Ward still managed to compile his
second-best goal total over his career, and his 34 points tied his second-best
point total for his career.His shooting
percentage was well off his career best recorded last season, but his 13.8
finish tied Rick Nash, Jamie Benn, and Gustav Nyquist.He was also an example of the virtues of
secondary scoring.The Caps were 13-3-1
in the 17 games in which he recorded a goal, 22-7-1 in games in which he
recorded a point.
Cheerless’ Take: For the difficulties Ward had in those
middle four ten-game segments, it did not seem to have much effect on the
club’s fortunes.The Caps were 24-9-7 in
the middle four ten-game segments of the season (a 113-point pace over a full
season).
Odd Ward Fact:Joel
Ward had four two-point games this season.It would not be surprising to say that the Caps won all four games, but
it is a bit odd that all four were on the road – at Calgary, at New Jersey, at
Pittsburgh, and at Montreal.
Game to Remember: December 6th versus New
Jersey.Washington was on a three-game
road trip and fresh off a win over the Carolina Hurricanes in the first game of
the trip when they headed to Newark to face the Devils in early December.The Caps split their first two decisions
against New Jersey and were only two points ahead of the Devils in the
standings.After exchanging first period
goals the Caps took a lead mid-way through the second period on a goal by Jay
Beagle.Three minutes later they added
to their lead on a power play goal by Evgeny Kuznetsov with assists by Brooks
Laich and Ward.For Ward, it was his 200th
point in the NHL.He added an assist on
an empty net goal by Laich.
Game to Forget:March
16th versus Buffalo.The Caps
had just defeated the Boston Bruins, 2-0, the night before when they headed to
Buffalo in mid-March on the first stop of a three-game road trip.The Sabres had been a bit difficult for the
Caps, having split two decisions before their March meeting.The teams exchanged
power play goals four minutes apart in the first period, Ward on ice for the
Sabre’s score and recording an assist on the Caps’ tally.The game went back and forth like that, and
Ward was generally on ice for much of it.By the time the teams finished regulation he had been on ice for both
Capitals power play goals and all three Sabres goals.Kuznetsov got the only score in the Gimmick to
give the Caps a 4-3 win, but Ward finished minus-2 (tied for his worst of the
season) and skated only 12:45 of the 65 minutes of hockey – none in the last
6:10 of regulation or in the five minutes of overtime – his lowest ice time of
the season.
Postseason: 3-6-9, plus-1
Joel Ward tied with Alex Ovechkin for the team lead in points
in the postseason.The odd part of his
postseason was the relationship of his ice time to results.In the eight games in which he skated at
least 18:37, the Caps were 5-3, and all three losses came in overtime.In the other six games the Caps were 2-4.However, getting more than 20 minutes was not
a case of more of a good thing.All four
games in which Ward recorded more than 20 minutes of ice time came on the road,
and three of them were losses, all in overtime.
In the end…
In his four years in Washington, Joel Ward had been the
epitome of a “solid” contributor.Among
the dozen forwards who appeared in more than 100 games for the Caps over that
period, Ward is:
4th in goals (57)
5th in points (121)
Tied for 1st in plus-minus (plus-22, with Eric
Fehr)
Tied for 4th in power play goals (13, with Marcus
Johansson)
Tied for 1st in shorthanded goals (3, with Troy
Brouwer)
5th in shots on goal (402)
3rd in shooting percentage (14.2)
5th in total minutes (4,198)
His postseason performance has equally solid.Among 13 Caps forwards appearing in at least
a dozen playoff games over the past four seasons he is:
4th in goals (5)
3rd in points (18)
Tied for 3rd in plus-minus (plus-3)
Tied for 3rd in power play goals (1)
4th in shots on goal (59)
His 2014-2015 season was a bit of a letdown, if only because
his 2013-2014 season was a career year.On
its own, it was a year in which Ward continued to be a solid, if at times
unheralded.The question now is whether
the Caps think they can get: a) a similar level of performance from Ward under
terms of a new contract, now that he is to be an unrestricted free agent, and
b) a new contract deal that they can fit under a tight salary cap, given the
other contract issues they have to sort out.
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an
act, but a habit.”
-- Aristotle
Back in early autumn, when the media were engaged in predicting
Hart Trophy winners as the NHL’s most valuable player, there was the usual
subject, and there were theoutside-the-boxpicks.
There is a name conspicuous by its absence among those
linked predictions. A name that was called to accept the trophy three times
over a six season span – in 2008, 2009, and 2013. One that was also named a
finalist in 2010.Washington Capitals
left-winger Alex Ovechkin was named as a finalist for the Trophy in 2015, the
fifth time in the last eight seasons he was among the three finalists for the
award.
The 2014-2015 season for Ovechkin was noteworthy if only for
its contrast to his 2013-2014 season that was dominated by commentary about his
plus-minus number, a minus-35.Let us
briefly recap.In the entire history of
the NHL, only four players – Rick Martin, Mario Lemieux, Rick Nash, and
Ovechkin – recorded a season in which they finished with both 40 or more goals
and a minus-35 or worse.Ovechkin alone
has a season – last season – with 50 or more goals and a minus-35.
You would have thought he was on ice for just about every
goal scored against the Caps and that his utter lack of interest or attention
to defense was the prima facie cause of each score.The fact is, he did not lead (or trail,
depending on your point of view) the league’s forwards in goals scored against
while on ice at 5-on-5 (he finished tied with James van Riemsdyk and Phil
Kessel for the third worst total (61) behind Jason Spezza (66) and Milan
Michalek (68)).The trouble was that he
was on ice for only 34 goals scored by the Caps at 5-on-5, tied for 168th among
583 forwards (numbers from war-on-ice.com).You could say he didn’t
make teammates better, or teammates couldn’t finish.Chicken, meet egg.
Forward to this season.One thing that certainly seems lost in the conversation among the hockey
pundit class this season is the plus-45 improvement in Ovechkin’s plus-minus
number over last season (he finished this season with a plus-10).It is not that he shaved most of that off his
goals scored against number.On ice for
50 goals against at 5-on-5 this season, he realized an 11-goal improvement over
last season.Clearly, he is not now, nor
is he ever likely to be a Selke Trophy finalist for best defensive forward
(even if he did receive votes for the award in 2008, 2009, and 2010).However, he was on ice for 54 goals scored by
the Caps at 5-on-5, tied for 24th best in the league among forwards and a
20-goal improvement over last season.
Hockey, you see, is a team game.
But, this being a review of the 2014-2015 season for
Ovechkin, let us stick to that.There
is, of course, his signature talent – scoring goals. For the third consecutive
season he will have the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy as the league’s top
goal scorer to himself, the first time that a player has won the award three
times in succession and the first time a player led the league in goals three
consecutive years since Brett Hull did it with the St. Louis Blues in 1989-1990
through 1991-1992.It is his fifth time
winning the Richard in the last eight seasons.Only two players have led the NHL in goals scored more times than the
five that Ovechkin led the league: Bobby Hull (seven times) and Phil Esposito
(six).He is currently tied with Wayne
Gretzky, Charlie Conacher, Gordie Howe, and Maurice Richard with five seasons
leading the league.
It was not as if he played favorites in scoring goals this
season, either.He scored at least one
goal against 26 of the 29 other clubs in the league in 2014-2015, only Detroit,
Calgary, and Vancouver spared his lighting the red light.He was most productive, as one might expect,
against divisional opponents.He had
five goals in four games against the New York Rangers, four in four games
against the New York Islanders and Pittsburgh Penguins, and four in five games
against the Columbus Blue Jackets, all of them Metropolitan Division rivals.
Ovechkin did not pile up goal totals against stiffs,
either.In 39 games against the other 15
teams to qualify for the postseason he finished with 28 goals, a 59-goal pace
over 82 games.That breaks down to 18
goals in 24 games against Eastern Conference playoff qualifiers (a 62-goal pace
per 82 games) and 10 goals in 15 games against Western Conference playoff
qualifiers (a 55-goal pace per 82 games).
Finishing the season with 53 goals to second-place Steven
Stamkos’ 43 marked the third time in his career that Ovechkin finished with ten
or more goals more than the runner-up in goals scored.He did it in 2007-2008, when his 65 goals
were 13 more than runner-up Ilya Kovalchuk; and his 56 goals in 2008-2009 were
ten more than runner-up Jeff Carter.Stamkos is the only other player in the post 2004-2005 lockout era to
finish a season with ten more goals than the league runner-up, 2011-2012 when
his 60 goals were ten more than Evgeni Malkin’s 50.
The 2014-2015 season was Ovechkin’s fifth in ten career
seasons in which he had a new head coach. His ability to adjust to the changes
continues to be impressive.He finished
his first season under new coach Barry Trotz with 53 goals.Compare that to his previous experiences
under new management:
2005-2006: Glen Hanlon (52 goals in 81 games of his rookie
season)
2007-2008: Bruce Boudreau (51 goals in 61 games after
Boudreau took over in November, a 69-goal pace for a full season)
2011-2012: Dale Hunter (34 goals in 60 games after Hunter
took over in November, a 46-goal pace for a full season)
2012-2013: Adam Oates (32 goals in 48 games of the
abbreviated season, a 55-goal pace for a full season)
Ovechkin’s underlying numbers merit notice as well.His Corsi-for percentage at 5-on-5 (53.7) was
better than the team as a whole (51.4), and it was a substantial improvement
over last season (49.3) despite the fact that his fraction of offensive versus
defensive zone starts, relative, dropped substantially this season (from 12.3
to 7.9; numbers from war-on-ice.com).
He continues to produce at a high output offensively while
maintaining a physical edge to his play.His hits differential per game (hits less hits taken) of 1.86 this
season was the highest in the eight years for which data are available from
war-on-ice.com. It was the fifth time in those eight years that his hits
differential exceeded 1.00 per game.
That physical dimension to his play (he finished tenth in
the league in hits among forwards) did not affect his durability.He played in 81 games this season, missing
only the Caps’ 2-1 loss to the Minnesota Wild on March 5th.In ten seasons, Ovechkin has appeared in 832
of a possible 858 regular season and playoff games played by the Capitals (97.0
percent).Of the 26 games he missed in
that span, 14 were due to injury, five were due to suspensions, three were due
to undisclosed reasons (thought to be a knee injury requiring minor surgery),
two were for personal reasons, and two were for other reasons not identified
(source: tsn.ca).
Fearless’ Take:Since
Alex Ovechkin came into the league in 2005-2006 he has 475 goals.Over that same span, the runner-up in total
goals is Jarome Iginla, with 339 (in six more games, for what it’s worth).Let’s put that into another perspective.Ovechkin has more total goals scored than any
player since the 2001-2002 season.Iginla
is second with 467 (in 344 more games).He has six 50-goal seasons since coming into the league in 2005-2006,
including this season.No other player
has more than two (Dany Heatley, Ilya Kovalchuk, and Steven Stamkos).In fact, since the 1982-1983 season, no
player has more 50-goal seasons overall than Ovechkin (Wayne Gretzky and Mario
Lemieux have six as well).As for the
2014-2015 season, Ovechkin finished the season with 53 goals, 81 points, and a
plus-10.Only Phil Esposito (66 goals,
133 points, plus-55), Mike Bossy (61/123/plus-30), and Marcel Dionne
(58/135/plus-55), all of whom played in a much more offense-oriented era, had
better seasons in those numbers at age 29 than Ovechkin did this season.
Cheerless’ Take: What’s with the tooth?Is he ever going to get that fixed?Anyway, there’s still that whole “Henrik
Lundqvist” thing.Third straight time
Ovechkin and the Caps lost to him in a seven-game playoff series.In his postseason career, Ovechkin is just
13-for-153 shooting against Lundqvist (8.5 percent shooting), 23-for-183
against everyone else he’s faced (12.6 percent).
Odd Ovechkin Fact: Alex Ovechkin is the only winner
(apparently) in the history
of the Hart Trophy to have won it at different positions – left wing in 2008
and 2009, right wing in 2013.
Game to Remember: February 15th versus Anaheim. A player with a league-leading 11 game winning goals might
have a number of games from which to pick.
Or, it might be the Caps’ last pre-season game, one in which he scored a
goal but might be remembered more for the beginning of one of the more heartwarming bonds between player and fan this season. We will go with a mid-winter game to wrap up the Caps’ west-coast road
trip. Having split the first two games
of the trip, an overtime win in San Jose and a loss in Los Angeles, the Caps
headed to Anaheim to face the Ducks and former head coach Bruce Boudreau.
The Caps spotted the Ducks a 1-0 lead barely a minute into
the context, but it took Ovechkin and the Capitals just 16 seconds to tie the
game. Nicklas Backstrom won a faceoff
cleanly from Ryan Getzlaf, drawing it back to Ovechkin at the edge of the
faceoff circle to the left of goalie John Gibson. Ovechkin settled the puck with his left skate
and snapped a shot through three Anaheim defenders and past Gibson to tie the
contest. The Ducks scored four minutes
later, but Ovechkin tied the game once more on a power play, one-timing a feed
from Mike Green from the top of the left wing circle past Gibson at the 10:26
mark.
Washington took a two-goal lead in the second period, Marcus
Johansson putting the Caps ahead, then Andre Burakovsky benefiting from two
Anaheim defenders closing on Ovechkin to take a pass and rip a shot off Gibson’s
glove and in to make it 4-2. With the
Caps hanging on to a 4-3 lead in the third period, Ovechkin started, then set
up the clincher. Anaheim’s Clayton
Stoner had trouble finding a loose puck in his skates, and Ovechkin jumped in
to poke it free. It started a two-on-one
rush with Burakovsky. As Ovechkin carried the puck across the Ducks’ blue line,
he curled a pass around defenseman Ben Lovejoy to Burakovsky, who deked Gibson
to the ice and tucked the puck around him to seal the Caps’ 5-3 win. It was Burakovsky’s first two-goal game of his
career. For Ovechkin, it was his second
four-point game of the season and the 19th of his career.
Game to Forget: March 21st versus Winnipeg. When the Caps touched down in Winnipeg in late March it was
to face a team scrambling for a playoff spot. The Jets were on a three-game
winning streak and were looking to extend it against their former division
rivals. If the Caps came out flat, they
would pay. They did, and they did. The Captain didn’t provide much in the way of
inspiration. Take this goal by Mark
Stuart to open the scoring, and look who is lollygagging into the frame as the
goal is being scored…
…and who gets caught trying to fly out of the zone just
before Mark Scheifele scores…
Ovechkin was on the ice for an empty netter by Adam Lowry
for good measure in the Jets’ 3-0 win.
It was his only minus-3 of the season. It was one of only
11 games this season in which he recorded two or fewer shots on goal.
Postseason: 5-4-9, minus-3, 61 shots on goal (still ranked
tied for seventh among playoff skaters as of Sunday)
He was not the difference-maker he was in the regular season
(or perhaps quite what the Caps needed in the playoffs).The club was 3-2 in games in which he scored
a goal, losing the last two of those games (Games 2 and 7 against the Rangers).He went the last five games of the postseason
just 1-for-23 in shooting (4.3 percent).His Corsi numbers were generally good against the Rangers in the second
round series (54.4 percent and plus-23 at 5-on-5; numbers from war-on-ice.com), but if you’re a goal scorer,
it’s the goals that matter, too. Oh, and there was this matter, too, that did not turn into his own "Messier Moment."
In the end…
If you look at this season in isolation, it was a remarkable
one for Alex Ovechkin – tops in goals, tied for fourth in points, lapped the
field in shots on goal (almost 100 more than next in line Rick Nash), a team
record in power play goals (25; only one player – Ilya Kovalchuk – had more in
a season since 1995-1996), led his team back to the playoffs and into the
second round for just the 11th time in 40 seasons in franchise history after
missing the postseason altogether last year.
But this was not a season “in isolation.”It was entirely consistent with his body of
work established over a decade, and it compares well in the context of NHL
history.He is among the elite in NHL
history in goal scoring (third all-time in goals per game behind Mike Bossy and
Mario Lemieux).He has, as demonstrated
above, put up scoring totals it took other players many more years and games to
amass.
That Ovechkin continued to produce in 2014-2015 at the level
he has over previous nine seasons, especially considering the life cycle of
goal scorers in the NHL is, if not utterly unique in NHL history, uncommonly
rare. When Wayne Gretzky was 29 years old (as Ovechkin is now), his last 50
goal season was in his rear-view mirror.At 29, Mike Bossy had his last 50-goal season.Mario Lemieux would have two more 50-goal
seasons after his 29th birthday, but he was already breaking down from illness
and injury.Among contemporaries who had
50-goal seasons (since the 2004-2005 lockout):
Dany Heatley has not had one since he was 26 years old, nine
seasons ago.
Ilya Kovalchuk’s last one was at age 24, and at 29 he played
his last NHL season (11 goals in 37 games with New Jersey).
Jonathan Cheechoo had his only 50-goal season in the first
year after the lockout, at age 25.
Corey Perry has one 50-goal season, that coming at the age
of 25, five seasons ago.
Sidney Crosby seems still capable of doing it in the
abstract, but his last 50-goal season was at age 22, six seasons ago.
Only Steven Stamkos appears capable of dethroning Ovechkin
as the preeminent goal scorer in the league at the moment, but his last
50-goal season came four years ago at age 21.
Alex Ovechkin stands at the pinnacle of his sport as an
offensive weapon.And no player since
perhaps Gordie Howe combines his offensive production with as physical an edge
to his game. In the modern era of the sport, since the expansion in the
mid-1960’s, he is unique.For some, that
seems not to be good enough, that there are flaws in his game (defense).Well, sure, and the Mona Lisa has flaws,
too. He faced a lot of criticism last year for his defensive performance, and this season started with persistent questions about his ability to "buy in" to a new coach's philosophy that might not play to his strengths. He did tighten up his play in his own end, he did buy in to what would be his fifth coach's philosophy, and he managed to record an historic season. Alex Ovechkin has made it a
decade-long habit of excellence.
“If the power to do hard work is not a skill, it's the best
possible substitute for it.”
-- James A. Garfield
If you hear the words, “Last Man Standing,” you might think
of a television sit-com.However, if you are a fan of the Washington Capitals, you might think, “Michael
Latta.”As in, the last man standing in
Washington after the Great TrainBirdbrainLamebrainFeatherbrainBloodstainDisdainImpossible-to-ExplainExcruciating-PainScatterbrainPainful-Eye-Strain Robbery
of 2013.Washington prospect Filip
Forsbrg was sent to Nashville in the trade, Martin Erat (the principal object
of return for the Caps in the deal) lasted 66 regular season and playoff games
over two seasons before being shipped off to Phoenix for a defenseman (Rostislav
Klesla) they quickly trade for a goalie (Jaroslav Halak) that they subsequently
lost in free agency, and a prospect who is still in the AHL (Chris Brown).
So much noise, so little music.
Except that Michael Latta is the type of player who can make
a lot of noise, of the sort that clanging pots make or cartoon explosions.He is, to be polite about it, a feisty
sort.In 70 games over two seasons with
the Caps, he has 80 penalty minutes, 50 of those minutes coming in ten fighting
majors.In 2014-2015 those numbers were
68 minutes in total, 40 of them coming on eight bouts.
To call Latta a “role player” is perhaps a bit
generous.Among 13 Capitals forwards
appearing in at least 50 games, Latta had the lowest ice time per game (8:44).That level of participation was not conducive
to big numbers.For example, among those
13 forwards, Latta finished…
13th in goals (0)
13th in assists (6)
13th in points (6)
9th in plus-minus (plus-4)
He was one of two Capitals forwards in that group without a
game-winning goal (Tom Wilson was the other).He was one of three forwards without a special teams point (Wilson and
Jason Chimera were the others).That ice
time was a factor.His 42 games logging
10 or fewer minutes almost doubled the next highest total on the club (Wilson:
26).
We do not mean to denigrate Latta’s performance or his
game.Like the closing line in Milton’s
sonnet, “On His Blindness,” they also serve who only stand and wait.
The Caps did have a 4-1-0 record when he recorded a point and a 9-0-2 record
when he skated 10 or more minutes.
Fearless’ Take: Latta's contributions in the rougher edges of
the game had some meaning.The Caps were
6-2-0 in games in which he had a fighting major, and they were 8-3-2 in the 13
games in which his hits differential (hits recorded less hits taken) was plus-2
or better (numbers from war-on-ice.com).
Cheerless’ Take: Better watch the tire pressure, cuz.You're pumping them a bit too much. In the 53 games Latta played, the Caps were
29-17-7.That’s 65 of 106 potential
standings points (61.3 percent).In the
29 games he did not play, the Caps were 16-9-4; 36 of 58 potential standings
points (62.1 percent).His presence was
not of the difference-making kind.
Odd Latta Fact: 357 forwards appeared in at least 50 games
in the NHL in 2014-2015.Only Michael
Latta among them did not record a goal.Only Columbus' Corey Tropp recorded fewer shots on goal (22) than Latta
(24) in that group, but he did have a goal.Latta had to close with a rush (that term being relative) to get to “24” (a "meh" week's worth of shots for Alex Ovechkin).He had six shots over the last ten games in
which he appeared.He did not record a
shot in 34 of his 53 games. Maybe Marcus Johansson can give him tips.
Game to Remember: December 18th versus
Columbus.When the Capitals headed to
Columbus for their December 18th contest, they were fresh off a
20-round shootout loss to the Florida Panthers.While it was just their second loss in their previous six games, neither
of them in regulation, getting back on a winning track was the goal.Washington split their first two meetings
with the Blue Jackets, but this would be the first meeting of the season in
Ohio.It would end up being something of
a wild and woolly affair.
Washington opened the scoring mid-way through the first
period on a Joel Ward goal.In the last
minute of the period the Caps doubled their advantage on what was a play by
Latta worthy of Nicklas Backstrom.Just
after the Caps killed a Columbus power play, the Caps had a faceoff in the Blue
Jackets’ end.Latta won the draw from
Ryan Johansen back to John Carlson.A
shot from Carlson was blocked, but the puck came out to Brooks Orpik at the
left point.He one timed a shot-pass to
Latta, who set up at the top of the crease to goalie Sergei Bobrovsky’s
right.In one motion, Latta accepted the
pass, then backhanded the puck across the crease to Jason Chimera for a tap-in
goal.
Columbus took a 3-2 lead early in the third period and had
the Caps on their heels.The Caps tied
the game on a somewhat accidental play involving Latta.Chimera took a pass from Jay Beagle in the Caps’
end and skated the puck up the left wing.As he was approaching the Columbus blue line, he laid it off to Latta in
the middle.Latta skated in and tried to
curl off, but he had the puck poked off his stick when three Blue Jacket
defenders converged on him.With that
many defenders on one player, the loose puck was in open ice where Karl Alzner
picked it up, skated in, and fired it past Bobrovsky.The Caps would need those two points from
Latta – his first two-point game in the NHL – in what would end as a 5-4
Gimmick win.
Game to Forget: January 16th versus
Nashville.When the Caps flew into
Nashville on January 16th, it would mark the first opportunity for
Latta to face the team that traded him away.It did not go nearly as well for Latta, coach Barry Trotz (also facing
the Predators for the first time since he left as head coach), or the
Caps.Latta had barely eight minutes of
ice time and only two shifts in the third period.The Caps blew a 3-2 lead in the last five
minutes after spotting the Predators two goals to open the game, the dagger
coming off a brutal giveaway by Matt Niskanen with less than two minutes
left.The Caps lost, 4-3.
Postseason: 0-0-0, minus-1
There really is not much to say here.Latta appeared in only four games – all in
the first round – and had a total of 27:42 in ice time (John Carlson skated
29:10 in Game 7 of the second round against the New York Rangers).Part of his absence was due to illness in the
second round, but it was an iffy proposition on a night-to-night basis whether
he would be called upon to skate.
In the end…
One cannot say it was an especially noteworthy year for
Michael Latta.Then again, of how many
fourth liners might that be said in any year?Last January, a famous hockey analyst and fashion icon called the New
York Islanders’ fourth line “maybe the best fourth line ever in hockey.”They were eliminated in the first round by
the Capitals.There are limits to what a
fourth liner is going to contribute, just as there are limits in Latta’s game,
at least in this, the early stage of his career.What he does not possess in skill, he is
going to have to replace with hard work.Hard work is something that can be said to occupy Latta’s game this
season.
