Washington Capitals: 2018-2019 By the Tens -- Defensemen: Matt Niskanen

Matt Niskanen

“Just remember, once you're over the hill you begin to pick up speed.”

-- Arthur Schopenhauer

It is a bit early to be pronouncing a 32-year old defenseman “over the hill,” but there was something of a head-scratching quality to the season Washington Capitals defenseman Matt Niskanen had in 2018-2019.  He tied a career high of seven even strength goals this season, but his overall point total dropped for the second straight season, from 39 points two years ago to 29 points last season to 25 points this season while playing more games this season (80) than in either of the last two.  He also finished a minus-3, his worst plus-minus rating since he was minus-3 in a 2010-2011 season that was split between the Dallas Stars and Pittsburgh Penguins.

Of some alarm, his season deteriorated (at least from a points perspective) from a good start.  Over his first three ten-game segments, Niskanen recorded five, four, and five points, respectively, going 4-10-14, even, in 30 games.  The fourth segment was key, though.  He was 1-0-1, plus-1, in the first six games of that segment.  In that sixth game against Carolina, Niskanen was chasing down a puck in the corner to the right of Braden Holtby mid-way through the third period with the Caps ahead, 2-0.  As he approached the wall, he was nudged in the right shoulder by Justin Williams, and then he was pushed face-first into the boards by Clark Bishop.  He missed the remainder of that game and the next two.

Niskanen strugged in his own end upon his return.  Although he was 2-2-4 in his first 14 games upon his return, he posted a minus-12 rating.  He rebounded to go 1-5-6, plus-8, in his last 30 games, but that 14-game stretch was a killer on an individual level for his numbers.  It begs the question, was it an injury-influenced off year for Niskanen (who was 6-15-21, plus-9, in 66 games not including the 14-game struggle he had on his return from injury), or was it an indicator of diminishing production to come?

Fearless’ Take… Matt Niskanen has long been a minutes-eating defenseman.  Including this season, he has averaged more than 20 minutes per game for seven straight seasons and averaged 22:20 per game over that span.  Even though his minutes were off some this season (his 21:56 per game was his lowest since he averaged 21:18 per game for Pittsburgh in 2013-2014), heavy ice time loads did not seem to burden him or the team.  In 16 games in which he skated more than 23 minutes, he was 3-5-8, plus-4, and the Caps were 10-3-3.

Cheerless’ Take… There is engaging in play, and there is engaging in play.  In 25 games in which Matt Niskanen was credited with three or more hits, the Caps were 12-11-1.  In 18 games in which he was credited with three or more blocked shots, they were 11-5-2.  They were 3-4-0 in the seven games in which he recorded at least three hits and three blocked shots.  Sometimes, there are some numbers you might not want to see a lot of. 

Odd Niskanen Fact… Matt Niskanen recorded three or more shots on goal in 23 games this season, but the Caps were just 9-11-3 in those games.  They were 11-4-2 in the 17 games in which he did not record a shot on goal.

Bonus Odd NIskanen Fact... Matt Niskanen is one of two first round picks of the 2005 Entry Draft who play with the Caps.  T.J. Oshie is the other.  Neither was selected by the Caps, Niskanen taken by Dallas with the 28th overall pick and Oshie taken by St. Louis with the 24th overall pick.  The Caps did have two first round picks in that draft -- Sasha Pokulok (taken 14th overall) and Joe Finley (taken 27th overall, one pick before Niskanen).  Neither played a game for the Caps.

Game to Remember… October 17^th vs. New York Rangers

The Caps had a special night to open the season, a 7-0 win over the Boston Bruins in the Stanley Cup banner raising.  However, the Caps went 1-2-1 in their next four contests before hosting the New York Rangers.  The Rangers arrived in Washington as winners of two of three games after a struggling 0-3-0 start.  The visitors put the Caps down early with a Mika Zibanejad goal six minutes into the contest.  John Carlson got the Caps even before the first intermission, and Alex Ovechkin gave them a lead early in the second on a power play.  The teams exchanged power play goals before the second intermission, but the Rangers got even mid-way through the third period on a Chris Kreider power play goal.  That set up overtime.

Just as the clock was passing the two-minute mark of the 3-on-3 session, NIskanen fed the puck up ice from his own end to Evgeny Kuznetsov circling at the red line.  Kuznetsov skated the puck down the middle and faked a shot before peeling off to the left wing circle.  He and Niskanen crossed, giving Kuznetsov an opening to stwp up and send a shot high to the glove side of goalie Henrik Lundqvist.  Although he got his glove on the shot, Lundqvist could not control it, and it dropped to his left, just where Niskanen was crossing in front.  Niskanen whipped a shot past a fallen Lundqvist into the back of the net for his first goal of the new season, giving the Caps the 4-3 win 2:18 into overtime.

                                                                                                                                                                     

Game to Forget…  October 11^th at New Jersey

Through their first three games of the season, the Caps were 2-0-1 and scored 18 goals.  Going to New Jersey to face a Devils team that finished the previous season 17^th in scoring defense offered the promise of further padding the early season offensive stats for the Caps.  Things did not work out quite that way.  Before the game was 20 minutes old, the Devils had a 2-0 lead, both goals from Kyle Palmieri, and Matt Niskanen got an up-close look at each, being on ice for both.  By the time it was over, the Devils had a 6-0 win, Niskanen also being on ice for the last of those six goals.  It was the first of three instances this season in which Niskanen posted a minus-3 rating, adding three shots on goal and two hits in his 19:46 in ice time.

Postseason…  About the best one could say of the postseason Matt Niskanen had against the Carolina Hurricanes was that it was uniformly mediocre.  He was 0-1-1, plus-2, with four shots on goal in four home games, 0-1-1, minus-2, with three shots on goal in three road games.  He had two blocked shots in five games, three in the other two.  He had two hits in four of the games.  He skated more than 20 minutes in all seven games, including a 37:35 log in the double-overtime loss in Game 7.  It was at the end of those 37-plus minutes that he could not quite close the distance between himself and Justin Williams as Williams chased down a loose puck along the right wing wall, nor could he block Williams’ centering feed to Brock McGinn for the game-winning, series-clinching goal for the Hurricanes. 

Looking ahead… Matt Niskanen has two more years at a $5.75 million cap hit on his current contract.  That cap hit with the other contract issues the club has, and perhaps the combination of his age (he will turn 33 in December) and diminished production in 2018-2019, has led people to wonder if he will be traded in this off-season.   Complicating the issue is that Niskanen has a modified no-trade clause that allows him to submit a 10-team no-trade list (source: capfriendly.com). 

In the end…

Matt Niskanen has been with the Caps five years.  In that time he has averaged 78 games played per year, and he has five of the top 11 average ice times per season (John Carlson also has five, and Dmitry Orlov has one).  All of those missed games have come after he appeared in all 82 games in each of his first two seasons with the Caps.  He has skated a lot of hard minutes, and the chips and dents might be showing as he heads toward his age 33 season, what would be his 13^th in the NHL. 

It was the legendary baseball executive Branch Rickey who once said, “trade a player a year too early rather than a year too late.”  It might be his most famous quote.  But he also said, “never surrender opportunity for security.”  And this is the situation that the Caps face.  Is Matt Niskanen showing the first effects of a long career in which he has skated a lot of minutes, or was the 2018-2019 season, arguably his worst statistically since the 2010-2011 season in which he was traded to Pittsburgh after going 1-9-10, minus-3, in 63 games for Dallas, merely an aberration?  Will the Caps bet on the latter, which could end up being a surrender to security if it isn’t an aberration?  Or, will they look to move the player to give the club an opportunity to free up resources to address other players’ contract situations at the risk that this season really was just a hiccup in Niskanen’s career?

Grade: B-

Photo: Jim Romsaas/Mesabi Daily News

Washington Capitals 2018-2019 Previews -- Defensemen: Matt Niskanen

Matt Niskanen

“The most successful men in the end are those whose success is the result of steady accretion.”

-- Alexander Graham Bell

When Washington Capitals defenseman Matt Niskanen took the ice on April 5^th against the Nashville Predators he became the 22^nd defenseman active in the 2017-2018 season to appear in 800 career NHL games.  With the 68 games he played in the 2017-2018 season, Niskanen became the 20^th defenseman in Caps history to play in 300 or more games for the club.  It was a season that fit squarely with Niskanen’s performance profile over his previous 11 seasons in the NHL.  If anything, it was somewhat better.  He appeared in 68 games (his career average before last season: 67), but his 7-22-29, plus-24 scoring line was more in line with his per-82 game averages over his previous 11 seasons (6-25-31, plus-10).

The breakthrough for Niskanen in 2017-2018 was becoming a full-time first-pair defenseman.  His pairing with Dmitry Orlov (perhaps a bigger surprise in getting top billing) was the most reliable, most stable pairing for the Caps over the course of the entire season.  He shook off an early scoring slump, posting only two assists and a plus-1 in his first ten games (punctuated by a 13-game absence to a hand injury), to go 7-20-27, plus-23 in his last 58 games.  Only once did he have a streak longer than three games without a point, a six-game streak from December 16^th through December 28^th.

There was a dramatic shift in one aspect of Niskanen’s game in 2017-2018.  In each of his previous three seasons with the Caps, he averaged more than one minute of power play ice time per game with a high of 2:25 in 2015-2016.  Last season, however, he averaged just 31 seconds of power play ice time per game.  That was offset by lesser increases to even strength ice time (up 1:35 per game) and shorthanded ice time per game (up eight seconds per game).  He still managed to average more than 22 minutes per game for the fourth time in four seasons as a Capital.

Odd Niskanen Fact…

Matt Niskanen is one of only nine defensemen in the last 30 years (and only the third not drafted by the club) to skate more than 7,000 minutes as a Capital.  

Bonus Odd Niskanen Fact…

Matt Niskanen dressed for 16 games in the postseason in his rookie year with the Dallas Stars.  He would not appear in that many games in a postseason again over his next seven trips to the playoffs… until last season with the Caps (24).

Double Bonus Odd Niskanen Fact…

Matt Niskanen was part of the 2005 entry draft class, the tenth defenseman taken and 28^th player overall.  Defensemen taken ahead of him by the Caps in that class?  Sasha Pokulok (14^th overall; no NHL games) and Joe Finley (27^th overall, one pick before Niskanen; 21 NHL games).

Fearless’ Take…

Matt Niskanen was a minutes-eater in the postseason, to good effect.  Washington did not lose a game in regulation time when he skated 25 minutes or more (eight wins and two overtime losses).  It was a continuation of his profile in the regular season where the Caps were 14-2-3 in the 19 games in which he skated more than 24 minutes.  Offensively, it was, if not his best of his four seasons since he came to Washington from Pittsburgh, then close to it, given the games missed to a hand injury.  His 0.10 goals per game was his best as a Capital, and his 0.43 points per game was his second best with the Caps and fourth best of his 11 year career.

Cheerless’ Take…

In his first ten seasons, Matt Niskanen was over 50 percent in even strength Corsi-for percentage, averaging 52.5 percent over those seasons.  Last year, he was under 50 percent for the first time (48.7 percent; source: hockey-reference.com).  His relative Corsi-for of 0.7 was off by 2.6 points from the previous season. 

Potential Milestones…

• 300 career points (he needs 2)
• 100 power play points (he needs 11)

The Big Question… Is Matt Niskanen underappreciated?

Matt Niskanen came into the NHL in 2007-2008.  Since then the population of defensemen with 800 games, 50 goals, 250 points, and plus-100 or better includes the following:  Zdeno Chara, Brent Seabrook, Duncan Keith, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, and Niskanen.  That’s it.  And Niskanen did it while playing the fewest minutes of the group (16,596), more than 1,300 fewer than Vlasic (17,908).  However, since he finished eighth in the Calder Trophy voting for top rookie in 2007-2008, only once did he receive any votes for an individual award, finishing tenth in the Norris Trophy voting for top defenseman with Pittsburgh in 2013-2014.  It probably says more that we would ask a question about the level of appreciation in his play than any particular aspect of that play and whether he could improve on it or suffer a regression. 

The fact is, he is among the most reliable defensemen in the game.  With the Caps, his range of goal scoring in four seasons is four to seven, and his points range from 29 to 39, although his other two seasons of 31 and 32 points suggest a predictability as a low-30’s point producer, right where is in his career per-82 game average (31 per 82 games).  There is every reason to think that, absent injury, he would once more produce in that area, and little expectation that he would experience an upward spike in his scoring.  If there is a Capitals defenseman from years gone by that he might resemble in his reliable and understated play, it might be Calle Johansson (albeit a bit edgier). That's not bad company.

In the end…

Matt Niskanen is not a conventional top-pair defenseman.  He isn’t a big goal scorer, not a fancy playmaker, isn’t extraordinarily physical (although ranking 25^th in total credited hits by defensemen over his four years in Washington, it might be an underrated part of his play), doesn’t get much time on, let alone dominate a power play.  He is an adept all-around defenseman who has quietly, steadily, bit by bit built a body of work that is impressive more in its totality than if you look at it game-by-game, or even season by season.  It would be folly at this point to expect anything other than that reliable, dependable, productive level of play. 

Projection: 74 games, 6-24-30, plus-14

Photo: Getty Images North America

Washington Capitals: 2017-2018 By the Tens -- Defensemen: Matt Niskanen

Matt Niskanen

“Slow but steady wins the race.”

-- Aesop

Coming into this season, Matt Niskanen was one of 26 active defensemen to have appeared in at least 700 games and recorded 250 points.  Not an exclusive club, but not one of wide membership, either.  In his first three seasons with the Washington Capitals after signing a contract as a free agent in the summer of 2014, he posted consistently better point total – 31 points in 2014-2015, 32 points in 2015-2016, and 39 points last season.  He averaged more than 22 minutes of ice time per game in each of those three seasons, and he improved his discipline, taking a diminishing number of penalty minutes – 47 in 2014-2015, 38 in 2015-2016, and 32 last season.

Niskanen was also a durable player, missing a total of only four games with the Caps over three seasons (all of them last season) and 53 over ten seasons entering the 2017-2018 campaign.  His durability was put to the test early in the season.  He dressed for the first four games, skating more than 20 minutes in all of them, more than 25 minutes in two of them.  He was on his way to adding to that string in the Caps’ fifth game of the year, in New Jersey against the Devils.  But late in the second period of a 2-1 game, Caps in front, he was slashed by Jimmy Hayes.  He sat out the remainder of the Caps’ 5-2 win and then was placed on long-term injured reserve, ultimately missing 13 games.

Niskanen’s absence mattered.  The Caps went 7-6-0 in those 13 games he was out of the lineup, and they lost the first two games he played upon his return when he skated 20:33 in a 6-3 loss to the Nashville Predators and only 17:56 in a 6-2 loss to the Colorado Avalanche.  In those 15 games, the Caps allowed 51 goals (3.92 per game).  Niskanen recorded his first point since Opening Night in the Caps’ next game, an assist on the game-winning goal by Dmitry Orlov in a 3-1 win over the Minnesota Wild.

Niskanen was durable thereafter, playing in 61 of 62 games starting with that game against the Wild when he returned to the score sheet.  Over that span he was 7-21-28, plus-24, a scoring line that on a per-82 game basis would have been 9-28-37, plus-32. With durability came consistency.  In his last six ten-game segments he had four or more points in five of them and was a “minus” player in just one of them.

Fearless’ Take… Unlike a lot of players, whose heavier ice time loads are accompanied by a lack of team success, the Caps did quite well when Niskanen assumed a heavier ice time burden.  In 19 games in which he skated more than 24 minutes, the Caps were 14-2-3.  And when he was productive, so were the Caps.  Washington was 6-1-0 in games in which Niskanen scored a goal, 20-5-0 in games in which he recorded a point.

Cheerless’ Take… In some respects, a more active Niskanen was not a more effective Niskanen.  When recording at least three shots on goal, the Caps were just 8-7-2.  They were 9-5-1 when he was credited with at least three hits.  And before we get to the “odd” Niskanen fact, here is a strange one.  The 2017-2018 season was Niskanen’s first in the NHL in which he did not record a power play point.

Odd Niskanen Fact… Matt Niskanen is one of two NHL defensemen to finish the season at plus-20 or better the last two seasons.  Pittsburgh’s Justin Schultz is the other.  He is also one of just two Capitals defensemen to record as many as two plus-20 or better seasons with the club since the 2005-2006 season (Mike Green was the other), and he is one of just five defensemen in team history to record as many as two seasons at plus-20 or better (in addition to Green, Sylvain Cote, Sergei Gonchar, and Darren Veitch).

Game to Remember… December 8^th vs. New York Rangers

Between injury and circumstance, Matt Niskanen went into an early December game against the New York Rangers having not recorded a goal in 16 games played.  That game – his 17^th of the season – was a milestone of sorts, his 750^th game in the NHL.  And when Nicklas Backstrom added a second period goal to one scored by Jay Beagle in the first period to give the Caps a 2-0 lead, it looked as if it would be a happy night for the Caps and Niskanen.  However, Michael Grabner scored with less than a minute to go in the second period to halve the Caps’ lead, and Jesper Fasdt scored mid-way through the third period to tie the game, 2-2. 

With less than four minutes left in regulation, the Caps took the lead back, thanks to an unlikely player from an unlikely spot on the ice.  The Caps set up a conveyor belt inside the Rangers’ blue line, Christian Djoos backing off from the top of the left wing circle before leaving the puck off for Nicklas Backstrom circling in Djoos’ wake.  Backstrom did the same, backing off and then leaving the puck for Alex Ovechkin curling out from the circle.  Ovechkin snapped a shot at the Rangers’ net.  That drive was stopped by goalie Henrik Lundqvist, but the rebound popped out to the low slot.  Tom Wilson reached out and swept it to his left, where Niskanen parked himself.  Fighting off Boo Nieves, Niskanen swatted the loose puck behind Lundqvist for what would be the game-winning goal in the Caps’ 4-2 win.  It was also Niskanen’s 50^th goal in the NHL.

Game to Forget… February 11^th vs. Detroit

The Caps had just won both ends of a tough home-and-home set against the Columbus Blue Jackets when they hosted the Detroit Red Wings in the second week of February.  Matt Niskanen came into this game with points in three of his previous four contests.  On the other side, the Wings came into the contest losers of three in a row and were lit up for seven goals in a 7-6 overtime loss to the New York Islanders in the game preceding this one.

When Alex Ovechkin scored just 4:20 into the game, it appeared that the Caps’ good fortune would continue, as would the Red Wings’ woes.  That was until the Wings scored four straight goals over a 26-minute span over the first and second periods.  Matt Niskanen was on the ice for two of them.  The Caps did mount a comeback and tied the game on a power play goal by Nicklas Backstrom with just 16.7 seconds left in regulation to salvage a standings point.  However, Detroit scored in overtime on a Tomas Tatar goal to capture the second standings point.  For his part, Niskanen skated 21:56 without recording a point or a shot on goal (his only shot attempt was blocked).  He had one hit and one giveaway, and he finished minus-2, his only minus-2 game of the season.

Postseason… Matt Niskanen was a minutes-eater in the postseason, and it was a critical element of success for the Caps.  In the 11 games in which he skated at least 24:29, the Caps went 9-2, both losses coming in overtime against Columbus in the opening round.  He skated two games with more than 30 minutes in ice time; Only Seth Jones of the Columbus Blue Jackets had more such games (four; John Carlson also had a pair for the Caps).  And his performance in the “grittership” areas gave support to the idea that some such numbers aren’t that good to have.  In the 13 games in which NIskanen’s combined hits and blocked shots were fewer than five, the Caps were 10-3.  They were 6-5 otherwise.  As far as scoring was concerned, his nine points in 24 games was almost equal to his combined total with the Caps in three previous postseasons covering 36 games (11 points).

In the end…

Four seasons into his seven-year contract with the Capitals, Matt Niskanen has established himself among the better defensemen to have played for a franchise with a long history of superior defensemen.  He is one of 20 defensemen to have appeared in at least 300 regular season games for the club (310/20th) and is one of only ten to have dressed for at least 50 games (63/8^th).  He is one of 17 defensemen with at least 20 goals as a Cap in the regular season (21/T-15^th), one of 14 with at least 125 points (131/14^th).  He is tied with Karl Alzner for fifth-best plus-minus among Caps defensemen (plus-61).  He has done it largely by being in the lineup, no small thing at a position where physical wear and tear is considerable.  He is one of 16 NHL defensemen to log at least 7,100 minutes over the last four seasons.

With the Caps sustaining a departure of half of their defense the ended the 2016-2017 season (Alzner, Nate Schmidt, and Kevin Shattenkirk) and having to break in rookies at the position to start this season (Christian Djoos and Madison Bowey), his consistency, durability, and steadiness as the season wore on was an important ingredient to the Caps’ success.  It will no doubt continue to be important and valuable as the Caps try to extend their good fortune to the 2018-2019 season.

Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images North America

Washington Capitals 2017-2018 Previews -- Defensemen: Matt Niskanen

Matt Niskanen

“Good, better, best. Never let it rest. 'Til your good is better and your better is best.”

-- St. Jerome

When Matt Niskanen signed a seven-year/$40.25 million contract as an unrestricted free agent in July 2014, he was cashing in on what was a perfect example of timing.  After six seasons with Dallas and Pittsburgh in which he never recorded more than seven goals (and that in his rookie season) and never more than 35 points (in his sophomore season), he hit the jackpot with a 10-36-46, plus-33, season with the Penguins in 2013-2014.

When Niskanen fell back to a more career-normal 4-27-31, plus-7, in his first season as a Capital in 2014-2015, it might have been seen by some as a disappointment.   What he gave the Caps was a solid 22 minutes a night in 82 games, he and John Carlson being the only Capitals defensemen averaging over one minute of both power play and shorthanded ice time for the season.

What Niskanen has done in two seasons since is improve his numbers incrementally each season and establish himself as perhaps the Caps’ best all-around defenseman.  In three seasons with Washington, Niskanen is second among Caps defensemen overall in goals (14, tied with Dmitry Orlov), assists (88), and points (102), all to John Carlson (29-102-131). He has averaged 23:04 of ice time over those three seasons (two seconds fewer than Carlson).  He has logged more than 600 more minutes (5,585) than the next Capital in line (Karl Alzner  with 4,969) and missed just four games as a Capital, all of them in 2016-2017.

Last season, his best as a Capital (5-34-39, plus-20, in 78 games), he displayed a certain consistency in his production.  Only once in eight ten-game splits did Niskanen record fewer than four points (three in Games 61-70, which included one of the four games he missed for the season), and he was a “minus” player only in his second segment of the season (minus-2). In his fifth and sixth segments (Games 41-60) he contributed seven power play points as John Carlson missed six games to a lower-body injury.

Odd Niskanen Fact… Of Niskanen’s five highest ice time totals last season, the Caps lost five times, four times in extra time and each of those instances on the road.

Bonus Odd Niskanen Fact… All five of Niskanen’s goals last season were scored against Metropolitan Division teams (one against Columbus, two each against Philadelphia and the New York Islanders).

Fearless’ Take…

Matt Niskanen is one of five defensemen over the past three seasons to play in at least 225 games, record 10 total goals, 100 total points, and post a plus-minus of plus-30 or better.  Despite being a Capital for only three seasons, he is 24^th in team history in games played (242), 23^rd in goals scored (14), 15^th in assists (88), 15^th in points (102), 14^th in plus-minus (plus-37), and tied for 11^th in game-winning goals (11, with Rod Langway).  Last season he demonstrated a certain “road warrior” mentality, going 3-23-26, plus-6, in 39 road games (both of his game-winning goals came on the road) while posting a scoring line of 2-11-13, plus-14, at home.

Cheerless’ Take…

Outside of John Carlson (8-14-22, plus-2), the Caps have not had a lot of offensive numbers put up by defensemen in the postseason over the last three seasons.  Matt Niskanen is no exception, even if he is second in points over that span.  In 39 playoff games over his three seasons with the Caps, he is 1-10-11, plus-1.  And that goal came in a 6-2 thrashing by the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 2 of their second-round series last spring (to be fair, it was a power play goal that tied the game in the first period).  In fact, Niskanen’s postseason production has lagged his regular season numbers for most of his career.  The four points he posted with the Caps last spring in 13 games tied his second-highest point total in any playoff year (he had nine points in 13 playoff games in his last season with the Pens in 2013-2014).

Potential Milestones to Reach in 2017-2018...

• 800 games played (currently has 733)
• 50 goals (currently has 49)
• 300 points (currently has 269)
• 500 penalty minutes (currently has 383)

The Big Question… Does Matt Niskanen have another level of improvement to provide?

Losing the likes of Karl Alzner, Kevin Shattenkirk, and Nate Schmidt on the blue line; and replacing them with rookies, late training camp signings, or in-season replacements makes for a difficult challenge on defense.  It places a certain pressure on both John Carlson and Matt Niskanen to strike a balance between improving their production and staying within their comfort zones in terms of style and role.  That Carlson slipped a bit last season in terms of per-game production at least suggests the potential for bouncing back.  Niskanen presents a different situation.  While he has improved in each of his three seasons with the Caps, the numbers in each of those seasons are all higher than his career per-82 game averages.  It begs the question of whether he regresses to a personal mean, or he has another 2013-2014 level of production in him.  The answer to that question might signal whether the Caps are a contender or will fight for a playoff spot next spring.

In the end…

Matt Niskanen is not going to show up on a short list of elite defensemen.  He does not have the offensive numbers of an Erik Karlsson, doesn’t have the cannon of a shot of a Shea Weber or a Brent Burns, and he does not have the deep playoff resume or a Duncan Keith or a Drew Doughty.   And even though a Capitals defenseman did receive a vote for the Norris Trophy last season, it was not Niskanen (it was Dmitry Orlov).   His is the profile of an underrated player, one who is very good at a wide range of tasks.  He plays well in all three zones and in all three strength situations. 

That he carries the description of “two-way” defenseman might normally suggest he is not especially skilled in either way, offensively or defensively.   Far from it.  Niskanen might be the best defensemen at both ends on this team, who has been durable, to boot.  His presence lends stability and consistency to a lineup that will need it this season, but if he was better last season than he was in the season before that, and better then than in the season before that one, he might have to be at his best this season for the Caps to make a deep playoff run.

Projection: 79 games, 7-36-43, plus-18

Photo: Patrick Smith/Getty Images North America

Washington Capitals: 2016-2017 By the Tens -- Defensemen: Matt Niskanen

Matt Niskanen

“Quiet minds cannot be perplexed or frightened but go on in fortune or misfortune at their own private pace, like a clock during a thunderstorm.”

-- Robert Louis Stevenson

Few defensemen have been as durable and productive over the past three seasons as Matt Niskanen.  In his three years with the Capitals, Niskanen is one of six NHL defensemen to have appeared in at least 240 games, logged at least 5,500 minutes, and recorded at least 100 points (he has 242 games, 5,585 minutes, and 102 points).  And quite a list it is, too.  Niskanen accomplished the feat as an example of consistency.  Although he missed four games in 2016-2017 (his first games missed as a Capital), he recorded five goals (compared to five and four in his previous two seasons) and 39 points (an improvement over the 31 and 32 in his first two seasons with the club).

Niskanen’s consistency extended into his segment to segment production in ten-game pieces.  In eight ten-game splits (12 games for the last one), he recorded between four and eight points, but in five of them he recorded four or five points.  He was a “minus” player in just one of those ten-game splits (minus-2 in Games 11-20).

In 2016-2017, Niskanen was one of two defensemen for the Caps to average at least 1:30 per game on both special teams, averaging 1:47 per game in power play time and 2:35 in shorthanded ice time (John Carlson was the other).  It was entirely consistent with his per game averages over his three seasons with the Caps – 1:45 in power play ice time and 2:34 in power play ice time per game.

Where Niskanen’s performance numbers were down was in his shifts per game.  With 26.0 shifts per game this season he averaged the fewest in any of his three years with the Caps, although it was still the eighth-highest number of shifts per game for Caps defensemen over the last three seasons.  And those shifts were a reflection of the team’s success.  Washington was 34-6-8 in the 48 games in which he skated 26 or more shifts, 21-13-0 in the games in which he skated 25 or fewer shifts.  As far as ice time was concerned, 21 minutes was a reasonable threshold as an indicator of wins and losses.  The Caps were 45-9-7 in games in which he logged more than 21 minutes, 10-10-1 in games he logged fewer than 21 minutes or did not dress.

Fearless’ Take… Niskanen has been one of the most durable and productive defensemen of the last decade.  He is one of only 11 defensemen over the last ten seasons have appeared in at least 700 games and recorded at least 250 points.

Cheerless’ Take… Matt Niskanen has played a lot of games, logged a lot of minutes, and even has a fair number of points, but as a Capital, efficiency hasn’t been his thing.  This was the third straight year of declining shooting percentage – 3.2 percent after 3.4 percent and 3.3 percent in his first two years in Washington – after posting consecutive years of 6.0 percent or better with Pittsburgh.  Maybe they just have better setter-uppers.  And this year’s shooting percentage happened as he had his highest shot total (154) with the Caps after a 117-shot year in his first season in Washington followed by a 150-shot season.

Odd Niskanen Fact… Matt Niskanen was born in Virginia, Minnesota, “Queen City of the North” (no, there is no “Minnesota, Virginia”), the birthplace of no fewer than eight pro hockey players (three of them named “Carlson,” two named “Cullen”), not bad for a town with a population under 9,000.  And on ice, the Caps did not lose a game in regulation this season in which Niskanen had a multi-point game (9-0-1, the only loss that weird 8-7 overtime loss to Pittsburgh on January 16^th).

Game to Remember… January 15^th vs Philadelphia

There are games where just about everything goes right for a team and for a player, and it is memorable when one of those times is against a hated rival.  Such was the case on January 15^th when the Caps hosted the Flyers in a Sunday afternoon game televised nationally.  It didn’t start that way for the Caps as they and their guests played to a scoreless first period and almost half of a second period without a score.  Nine minutes into the second period, though, Andre Burakovsky scored an unassisted power play goal.  That was the lead the Caps took to the third period, but it did not take Justin Williams long to add to it with a goal with just 1:36 gone.

And then, Niskanen dropped the hammer with a pair of goals barely two minutes apart.  The first came off a sloppy Flyer turnover at the Capitals’ blue line that allowed Nicklas Backstrom to break free.  Reaching the Flyer zone, he fed Alex Ovechkin for what seemed sure to be a one-timer from the left wing circle.  However, Ovechkin spied Niskanen filling in down the middle and fed him for a tap in from the top of the crease to make it 3-0…

Just over two minutes later, Tom Wilson did some of the heavy lifting, carrying the puck down the left wing in the Flyer end and circling around the net.  When he popped out the other side to goalie Steve Mason’s left, he slid the puck out to Niskanen, who stepped into a one-timer from the right point that Masonn misplayed off the top of his glove and into the net to make it 4-0, 5:47 into the third period and sealing the deal in a 5-0 win.  It was one of two two-goal performances for Niskanen this season, and he finished the contest with a season-best plus-4.  It was the second time in his career that Niskanen that Niskanen had a plus-4 game, the other coming in his rookie season with the Dallas Stars in a 6-3 win over the Nashville Predators on February 23, 2008.

Game to Forget…  December 7th vs. Boston

Matt Niskanen appeared in each of the Caps’ first 24 games of the season, extending his consecutive games streak with the club to 188 games.  Taking the ice for consecutive game 189 against the Boston Bruins should have been unremarkable, and it was.  It was the cutting short of his evening that was remarkable.  Niskanen last seven shifts into the game and was already a plus-2 form a pair of Justin Williams goals in the first eight minutes of the contest.  But with less than five minutes in the first period, niskanen was chasing a puck to the end boards and looked to be losing his footing when Patrice Bergeron did the rest, cross-checking Niskanen into the end wall head first.  That ended Niskanen’s participation in that contest, a 4-3 overtime Caps win as it turned out, and he missed the road trip to Buffalo that followed and what would be his first missed game as a Capital. 

Postseason: 13 games, 1-3-4, even

Matt Niskanen had a postseason bordering on the bizarre for the Caps.  The team split the four games in which he had points and lost the only game in which he had a goal.  Then there was the night he skated just 2:09 against the Penguins, in Game 3 when Sidney Crosby sustained what appeared to be a concussion when he was charging to the net, was hit by Alex Ovechkin’s stick, then cross-checked in the head as Crosby was stumbling forward.  Niskanen earned a major penalty for cross-checking and a game misconduct for his infraction, forcing the Caps to play with five defensemen for more than two full periods in what would eventually be a 3-2 overtime win.  That goal he scored – in a Game 2 loss to the Penguins – was his first postseason goal with the Caps.  Then there was the physical play.  His 45 credited hits for the postseason was the third-most in Caps history since hits became a statistic in the 2005-2006 season.  As it was, only four defensemen had more credited hits for the entire postseason, and of that group, only Edmonton’s Matt Benning played in fewer games (12).  At the other end, he tied with John Carlson and Nate Schmidt for second-most points among Caps defensemen in the postseason.

In the end…

Matt Niskanen is among the better two-way defensemen in the NHL, but this season he appeared to display an edgier side to his play.  It was not unwelcome.  The Caps were 11-3-0 in games in which he was charged at least two minutes in penalties; they were 14-4-3 in games in which he was credited with three or more hits.  His postseason was an improvement on 2016, scoring-wise (he was 0-3-3 in 12 games in the 2016 postseason), and he did it while averaging his fewest minutes in the postseason as a Capital (22:38, although that early exit against the Penguins in Game 3 depressed that number).  Niskanen took care of business more consistently than perhaps any other defenseman, if not any other player, over the course of the season.  He rarely had what could be called a poor game, even in the postseason (save for that whole Crosby cross-check thing).  In a way, he was the defense equivalent of Nicklas Backstrom, a player to plays at his own pace and to the extent he can from his position bends the game to that pace.  It was a solid overall year for Niskanen.

Grade: B

Photo: Patrick Smith/Getty Images North America

Washington Capitals vs. Pittsburgh Penguins: The Cousins Sittin' On The Porch Looking Back at Game 3

The Washington Capitals came back from the dead last night, crawled back into the coffin in the last two minutes, and then sprung back to, if not full vim and vigor, into a more or less upright position with their 3-2 overtime win over the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series.  It was your standard 60 minutes of regulation with a short, by NHL postseason standards, overtime, but it was as if the teams put on a production of “The Ring of the Niebelung” in Pittsburgh.  The cousins found it an interesting game, to say the least…

Fearless… OK, let’s get right to it.  Dirty or not?

Cheerless… Kunitz should be kicked out of the country for that hit on T.J. Oshie.

Fearless… Funny.  Of course, we mean the attempted assassination of Sidney Crosby by Alex Ovechkin and Matt Niskanen with the game barely five minutes old.  First, Ovechkin clocks Crosby in side of the head, dulling his senses, then he slewfoots Crosby, kicking out his left foot to put him off-balance as he heads through the low slot.  Then, in the coup-de-grace, Matt Niskanen, encamped on the grassy knoll of the right wing faceoff circle, cross checked him in the face, snapping Crosby’s head back, and to the left…back, and to the left…back, and to the left…

Cheerless… I ain’t the sharpest knife in the chandelier, but from the time Crosby came across the blue line to when he collided with Niskanen, it was about four seconds.  Hockey is a fast game.  Do you think Alex Ovechkin told himself… “I must break him,” circled in behind him, recollected that Crosby had a history of concussion issues and thought, “hey, if I whack his head, maybe I turn his brains into pirozhki,” whacked him, then slewfooted him on purpose, knowing Matt Niskanen was 20 feet away looking to deliver the kill shot… all in four seconds?  Who are you, Rob Rossi? 

*****

Cheerless… Back to the actual game, what is with this team and horking up leads?  Last night was the fifth time in nine games in the postseason that the Caps had a lead and lost it.  They are 3-2 in those games, but really…stop doing that!

Fearless… It is part of a bigger problem.  Only the Ottawa Senators have allowed more second period goals (12) than the Caps (11), and no team has allowed more third period goals than Washington (9).  Shoot, no team at all has allowed more goals than the Caps (27), period.  They have more overtime goals scored than any team in the playoffs so far (four), but that’s in no small part a product of losing leads.  The Caps have a fine plus-4 goal differential in the first periods of games so far, but they have a minus-five in the second periods and a minus-3 in the third periods of games.  If they don’t end that nonsense, start thinking about tee times.

*****

Fearless… This was just the third time in ten tries against the Penguins that the Caps won a Game 3 and the first time they did it since 1995.  The only time they beat the Pens in a series was when they won a Game 3 on their way to the win.  It was the first time in six tries that they won a Game 3 in Pittsburgh. 

Cheerless… Yeah, how ‘bout that?  Since Ovechkin has been in the league the Caps are 2-2 in series in which they win Game 3.  Let’s not read too much into that, okay?  Game 4 doesn’t seem to matter much, either.  The Caps are 4-3 when winning Game 4 in those same years (including a series win against Toronto this year).

*****

Cheerless… Three games in this series, the third and fourth lines have a total of one point.  And even that one – an assist by Lars Eller – was recorded skating with Alex Ovechkin and T.J. Oshie (Ovechkin got the goal).  Last year against the Pens, the Caps third and fourth lines recorded four points by four different players in six games (Jay Beagle and Andre Burakovsky had goals, Tom Wilson and Jason Chimera had assists). Haven’t we seen this movie?  Are we expecting it to end any different if it’s just a remake of the same movie?

Fearless… The Eller-Wilson-Burakovsky line is a 72.73 Corsi-for at 5-on-5 in the postseason.  Of 167 forwards having skated at least 50 5-on-5 minutes, Burakovsky has the best individual Corsi-for at fives in the league (66.01).  Wilson is tenth (60.48), and Eller is 12^th (60.00; numbers from Corsica.hockey).  Either these guys just forgot how to get puck to and into the net, or they have had the worst luck imaginable from a fancystats perspective.

*****

Fearless… Talk about worst luck imaginable.  The Caps have a two-goal lead late, and the Pens get one on a shot from Evgeni Malkin that looked to nick the heel of Karl Alzner’s skate, altering the trajectory of the puck upward enough to clear Braden Holtby’s left pad, then they get another when a shot hit T.J. Oshie and changed direction past Holtby.  But he was solid before that and sucked it up after for his best performance of the series and one of, if not his best of the entire postseason to date.  Just in time, I’d say.

Cheerless… In nine games so far, Holtby has allowed fewer than three goals in consecutive games just once (Games 5 and 6 against Toronto, in which he allowed one goal in each).  Let’s not get ahead of ourselves and pronounce him “cured” of whatever yips he had.

*****

Peerless… The dominant story over the next two days is going to be the health of Sidney Crosby and the likelihood of his return for Game 4, or perhaps even the series.  There are a lot of ways this can play out in terms of whether his absence advantages the Penguins (steely team resolve, Malkin doing well over his career in Crosby’s absence) or the Capitals (not having to face the game’s best player in addition to the absence of Pittsburgh’s best defender in Kris Letang and their number one goalie, Matt Murray).

The way we see this is a situation that provides the Caps with another opportunity to demonstrate the difference between this team and its predecessors.  They have to be a team with no memory and no conscience.  They just need to stick to business, play the team in front of them, assert their will, and stand on their throat.  Sounds easy, doesn’t it?  Yeah, if it was, I’d be centering Fearless and Cheerless for an NHL team.  Don’t see that happening soon.  Let’s just hope the Caps find a way to find their inner ruthlessness and come home with a tied series that looks more like one to their advantage.

Washington Capitals 2016-2017 Previews -- Defensemen: Matt Niskanen

Matt Niskanen

“The battlefield is a scene of constant chaos. The winner will be the one who controls that chaos, both his own and the enemies.”

-- Napoleon Bonaparte

When last we saw Matt Niskanen on the ice in a game that mattered, he was in the low slot trying to defend a shot by Pittsburgh Penguin Carl Hagelin that somehow snuck between his legs, and as he turned to his next defensive assignment to clear away any rebound, he saw Nick Bonino tuck that rebound past the right pad of Washington Capitals goalie Braden Holtby for the game-winning, series-clinching goal in the Eastern Conference semifinals.  The Caps went home for the summer; the Penguins went on to win the Stanley Cup.

That is the chaos in which Matt Niskanen and most players in the NHL live.  Niskanen and the Caps have found the task of navigating the chaos one that can be mastered in the regular season over the past two years.  The Caps and Niskanen have expressed a certain consistency.  In each of the last two seasons, the Caps topped the 100-point mark in the standings.  In both seasons, Nickanen appeared in all 82 games, and he posted remarkably similar top-end numbers.  In 2014-2015 he was 4-27-31, plus-7; while in 2015-2016 he was 5-27-32, plus-10.  As we pointed out in looking at his ten-game splits at the end of last season,  those ten-game splits were remarkable for their consistency in points produced (no fewer than three, no more than five in any ten-game segment).  In the land of chaos, Niskanen was an island of constancy.

The playoffs have been another matter.  In each of the last two seasons the Caps and Niskanen reached the second round, but advanced no farther.  Niskanen has yet to record his first postseason goal as a Capital, having gone 26 games over the last two postseasons without finding the back of the net.  Niskanen has not been an especially efficient shooter for the Caps, his 3.4 percent shooting percentage the lowest among the three teams for which he played in the NHL. But even with that shooting percentage in the postseason, he would have had a playoff goal or two.

That is the thin margin on which success and disappointment live, because as in many instances of supplemental scorers, even on defense, Niskanen’s contributions mattered.  The Caps were 5-0-0 in the regular season last year when he scored a goal, 23-1-4 in games in which he recorded a point.  He was also a capable possession player, posting a Corsi-for at 5-on-5 of 51.12 percent, following on a 51.95 percent year in 2014-2015 with the Caps.

Fearless’ Take…

Niskanen has not only been durable for the Caps, appearing in all 164 regular season and 26 postseason games since joining the club, but he has been a minutes-eater, too.  He averaged 24:40 in ice time last season, the third highest total among Washington defensemen in the post-2004-2005 lockout era for the Caps.  He led the Caps defensemen in both even strength and shorthanded ice time per game and was second among that group in power play ice time (to John Carlson).  He is the only Capital defenseman in the post-2004-2005 lockout era to have appeared in at least 50 games in a season and averaged 19 or more even strength minutes, more than two power play minutes, and more than two shorthanded minutes per game.

Cheerless’ Take…

Maybe Niskanen going silent in the playoffs shouldn’t have been a surprise.  In his last 15 regular season games last year he went 0-3-3.  He didn’t score a goal in his last 17 regular season games, meaning he went 29 games without a goal to end the season.  Those ten-game splits Peerless looked at also showed that while he was a plus-16 over his first five ten-game segments, he was a minus-2 in each of his last three segments.  He had a similar drought to end the 2014-2015 regular season – one goal in his last 22 games and none in 14 postseason games.

The Big Question… Is there a little more in Niskanen’s game, especially in the postseason?

As noted, Niskanen had similar numbers in his first two years with the Caps -- 4-27-31, plus-7 two years ago and 5-27-32, plus-10 last season.  They look a lot like his per-82 game average for his career (6-23-29, plus-7).  Before arriving in Washington he was 3-15-18 in 55 postseason games (5-22-27) but is 0-7-7 in 26 postseason games with the Caps.  It brings to mind a quote from Crash Davis in the movie “Bull Durham”…

“There's 6 months in a season, that's about 25 weeks. That means if you get just one extra flare a week - just one - a gorp... you get a groundball, you get a groundball with eyes... you get a dying quail, just one more dying quail a week... and you're in Yankee Stadium.”

Well, there are two months in a playoff season.  For a Cup finalist that’s about nine weeks, about 25 games.  That means if you just get one goal, maybe two – a knuckleball, a shot off a post, you get a shot from the point with eyes…just one, maybe two…and you’re skating around the rink with a Cup.

If Niskanen replicated his postseason shooting percentage with the Dallas Stars and the Pittsburgh Penguins with the Caps, it would have meant just one goal on 39 shots.  But that one goal, at the right time, might be the difference in a game or a series.  Remember, this is a team that was eliminated in overtime in each of the past two seasons.  That’s how thin that margin can be between success and disappointment.

In the end…

Matt Niskanen hasn’t had that seeing-eye puck in the postseason.  He’s hardly alone, and the Caps haven’t advanced past the second round in the last 11 trips to the postseason.  Niskanen is hardly a cause.  He is a symptom.  He and the team just haven’t found that lucky bounce or fluke goal that propels them onward.  He has never been a big goal scorer, even by defenseman standards.  Only once has he reached double digits in goals in a season (2013-2014 in Pittsburgh).  But if he can find the net once or twice at the right time, the Caps could find themselves making lives disappointing for others.  Maybe it’s just a case of finding a way to control the chaos.

Projection: 82 games, 6-26-32, plus-10

Photo: Elsa/Getty Images North America

Washington Capitals: 2015-2016 By the Tens -- Defensemen: Matt Niskanen

Matt Niskanen

“The secret of all victory lies in the organization of the non-obvious.”

-- Marcus Aurelius

If you watch Matt Niskanen in one game, you almost certainly will not get an appreciation for the diverse talents he has.  Coming into this season he was one of ten defensemen since he came into the league in the 2007-2008 season to play in 500 games, record at least 35 goals, post at least 150 points, and have a plus-minus of plus-30 or better.  He combined durability, an ability to contribute offensively, an ability to be effective at both ends of the rink, and to log significant minutes (just under 20 minutes per game).  He was 6-23-29, plus-7 on a per-82 game basis over those eight seasons, and over a five-season stretch ending with his first season in Washington last year, he saw his ice time increase every year, from 16:32 in 2010-2011 to 22:21 last season with the Caps.

In 2015-2016, Matt Niskanen had a year that might not have been foreseen, given the profile of results he had with the Pittsburgh Penguins in the year before he became an unrestricted free agent signed by the Caps.  In that last year with the Penguins, Niskanen posted the best offensive numbers of his career (10-36-46, plus-33, a plus-6.9 Corsi-for/Relative in all situations, PDO of 103.3 in all situations).  His first season with the Caps was more modest, with four goals and 31 points, with a plus-7.  In 2015-2016, Niskanen’s contributions were more nuanced than perhaps at any other point in his career.

Niskanen’s offensive production in his second season with the Caps did not look a lot different from his first season (5-27-32 this season versus 4-27-31 last season).  His possession numbers were not a lot different, in fact down slightly (51.1 percent Corsi-for at five-on-five versus 52.0 last season), but his goal differential at fives improved quite a bit, from plus-1 last season to plus-12 this season.  His on-ice shot differential showed even greater improvement, from plus-4 last season to plus-65 this season.

Niskanen did pare back his penalty minutes (from 47 to 38), but he seemed to play with a bit more of a physical edge.  He was credited with 157 hits this season versus 143 last season.  He also upped his blocked shots from 106 to 145, and he reduced his giveaways from 76 to 62.

Looping back to his offensive contributions, those of Niskanen were timely.  The Caps were undefeated in the five games in which he scored a goal, 23-1-4 in games in which he scored a point.

Fearless’ Take… It can be easy to take a player’s durability for granted.  For the second straight season, Niskanen appeared in all 82 games.  He is one of just eight defensemen to appear in all of the season’s games, and having missed just one game in his last three seasons;  only five defensemen have appeared in more contests.   Then there is the ice time he consumes.  This past season, 128 defensemen logged 25 or more minutes in at least one game.  Niskanen was 17^th on that list with 35 games of 25 minutes or more of ice time.

Cheerless’ Take… There isn’t a part of Niskanen’s game that really sticks out in a good way this season, but it is even harder to find a part of his game that stood out in a bad way.  His ten-game splits do have a little bit of odd in them, though.  He was a minus-2 in each of his last ten splits and a minus-4 in 5-on-5 goal differntial, even though he had solid possession numbers.  And those possession numbers and scoring chance differential in the third and fourth set of ten games were nothing to get excited about.

Odd Niskanen Fact… In nine NHL seasons with three different teams (Dallas, Pittsburgh, Washington), Niskanen has never finished a season below 50 percent in Corsi-for at five-on-five.  Neither has he ever finished in negative territory in Corsi-for/Relative at 5-on-5 (numbers from war-on-ice.com).

Game to Remember… October 10^th versus New Jersey

No point earned in the NHL is “easy,” but on Opening Night at Verizon Center, Matt Niskanen’s 200^th career NHL point was as easy as it is ever likely to get.  Having already recorded a point on an assist on an Alex Ovechkin goal in the third period against the New Jersey Devils, the Caps took a 4-2 lead into a power play with 4:38 left in regulation.  In what has become something of a thing in the NHL, the Devils, down by two goals and shorthanded, lifted goaltender Keith Kinkaid for an extra skater.  With the clock ticking down past the three-minute to go mark, Niskanen slid the puck from the right point to Dmitry Orlov on the left side.  Orlov moved the puck down the wall to Justin Williams at the goal line extended to the right of the cage.  Williams circled out, fending off defenseman John Merrill, and found Niskanen filling in from the point.  With the net empty and Kyle Palmieri trying mightily to assume the role of netminder, Niskanen ripped a slap shot into the net with 2:53 left for his 200^th point in a 5-3 Caps win.

Game to Forget… February 20^th versus New Jersey

On the same ice sheet four months later against the same team, things did not go quite so memorably for Matt Niskanen.  Three times the Devils took a one-goal lead, three times Matt Niskanen was on the ice for them, including goals against on consecutive shifts late in the first period.  The Capitals did tie the game a third time, and they went on to win, 4-3, on a Brooks Orpik goal of all things.  However, Niskanen suffered his only minus-3 of the season, and his 19:54 was one of only two games all season in which he did not finish with 20 minutes of ice time.  It does bear noting, though, that holding a one-goal lead, he was out there for the last shift of the game.

Postseason: 12 games, 0-3-3, plus-3, 50.9 percent Corsi-for at 5-on-5; minus-1.6 CF%/Relative at 5-on-5

In the postseason, it’s not how you start but how you finish.  Matt Niskanen recorded a pair of assists over the first four games of the first round series against the Philadelphia Flyers, was plus-3, and his possession numbers were good (52.0 percent Corsi-for at 5-on-5).  His possession numbers only improved in the last two games; he finished the Flyer series with a 57.7 percent Corsi-for.  The second round series against the Penguins was another matter.  He had one point, an assist in a Game 3 loss, and his possession numbers sagged – 45.1 percent Corsi-for at fives.  And, having to make do without his regular partner, Karl Alzner, for almost the entirety of the second and third periods of Game 6, lost by the Caps in overtime to end their season, Niskanen’s possession numbers took it in the teeth.  He was minus-20 in Corsi plus-minus, 32.8 percent for the game, his worst of the postseason and seventh worse game result out of 94 regular and postseason games this season.

In the end…

We have to admit to a quiet admiration for players like Matt Niskanen, guys who perform at a consistently high level without generating a lot of hoopla in doing it.  He has had a remarkably consistent career in his performance numbers (goals, points, plus-minus) and his production numbers (possession).  This year was no different.  That the season ended as it did for him, with an all too close view of the game-winning, series-clinching goal in overtime against the Penguins, was not so much anything he did or did not do as circumstance – the Caps unable to ice their best defensive pair with Karl Alzner out with an injury.  Nevertheless, in the long arc of an NHL season, Niskanen had another good one, although sometimes it was not quite obvious how good.

Grade: A-

Photo: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images North America