A NO-Point (NO-Post) Night -- Game 56: Kings 3 - Capitals 1

The Washington Capitals lost to the Los Angeles Kings last night, 3-1.  We missed it because, if you haven't heard, we had some powerful winds blowing through that knocked out power.  It seems as if the Caps sort of missed it, too, based on the subdued comments of head coach Barry Trotz after the contest.

Back on the horse Sunday, boys.

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!! -- Game 56: Capitals at Kings, February 14th

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!!

The Washington Capitals will descend upon the City of Angels for the second of their three-game California (and four-game road) trip on Saturday night and face the Los Angeles Kings.  The Caps faced the Kings less than two weeks ago, goalie Braden Holtby authoring a 4-0 shutout at Verizon Center.

Since then, the Caps have continued on their slow and steady pace, inching closer to the top of the Metropolitan Division with a 3-1-0 record.  In those four games, what is striking about the Caps’ offense is where it comes from.  Evgeny Kuznetsov leads the Caps in points in those four games (1-3-4), and he and Brooks Orpik are tied with Nicklas Backstrom with three assists apiece to lead the club.  Jay Beagle and John Carlson have two goals apiece, tying Alex Ovechkin for the lead among the ten goals scored over those four games.  In all, 14 players have contributed points for the Caps in those four games.  It was the lack of that support scoring that led to their one loss, a 3-1 decision against the Philadelphia Flyers when the only Caps goal was an Ovechkin tally, assisted by Backstrom and Kuznetsov on a power play.

Meanwhile, the Caps continue to get good goaltending, but with a twist.  Braden Holtby is 2-1-0, 2.32, .913 over the four-game span.  While it represents a bit of a cooling off from the torrid pace he had been setting over his previous three games (two shutouts and a one-goal-allowed game), it is still a respectable level of performance.  The twist was Philipp Grubauer getting promoted from Hershey for a start against the Anaheim Ducks.  After a bit of what appeared to be nervousness early on, he settled down nicely and finished up stopping 23of 25 shots and two of three in the Gimmick for a 3-2 win.

The Kings, who had been struggling before meeting the Caps with a 2-4-4 record to close January, have a 3-1-0 record of their own since losing to the Caps.  They have done it with a bit more offensive punch (15 goals in the four games) and also from surprising sources.  Tyler Toffoli took over the team lead in goals with five over his last three games, including a hat trick in the Kings’ 5-3 win over Calgary on Thursday.  Jeff Carter, who has been much more of a finisher than a playmaker over his career, led the team with four helpers over four games.  Right behind him was defenseman Robyn Regehr, who nearly doubled his assist total for the season with three assists over four games.

As a team, the Kings have been much better about tilting the ice in their favor since they lost to Washington. They averaged 37.3 shots per game in those four outings (twice recording over 40) while allowing an average of just 23.0 shots per game.

In goal, Jonathan Quick played all the minutes in the four games, extending his appearances streak to 11 straight contests.  In the four games Quick is 3-1-0, 2.76, .880.  The disturbing thing about Quick’s recent performance is that it not any distinguishable from a stretch amounting to about a quarter of the season (or a third of a starting goalie’s work load).  In his last 22 appearances, Quick is 8-8-5 (one no-decision), 2.96, .877.

1.  Los Angeles certainly likes the friendly confines of Staples Center.  They have the fourth largest swing in goal differential between that at home (plus-20) and that on the road (minus-12).  The net change is larger than every team except Philadelphia, Toronto, and Tampa Bay.

2.  No team has scored fewer goals in overtime than the Kings.  They are stuck at “1” with seven other teams.

3.  Shots don’t seem to matter much to the Kings (recent trends notwithstanding).  They have a winning percentage under .500 when they outshoot opponents (.486/17-11-7), a winning percentage under .500 when they are outshot (.467/7-3-5), and they have yet to win when shots are equal (0-4-0).

4.  Home cookin’ seems to help special teams, too, at least for the power play.  While the Kings are a measly 13.5 percent in road power play conversions (23rd in the league), they are at 23.3 percent at home (6th).

5.  As for the penalty kill, it gets a lot of work at home.  The Kings have been shorthanded 95 times at home this season, third most in the league.

1. The Caps will come into this game having faced only four shorthanded situations over their last three games. Oddly enough, it is not the first time this season that happened.  The Caps faced four in three games, November 20-26, allowing two goals, both to the New York Islanders in three chances.

2.  Only four teams have allowed fewer first period goals than the Caps (35).  The flip side of that is that the Caps have allowed the seventh-highest share of total goals scored against after the first period (74.1 percent of the total of 135 allowed).

3.  The Caps have the best record in the league in games decided by one goal (8-2/.818).  Conversely, they are one of just two teams (Ottawa being the other) with at least ten onegoal losses in regulation and at least ten one-goal losses in extra time.

4.  Four Capitals defensemen have appeared in more than 50 games – Brooks Orpik, Matt Niskanen, Karl Alzner, and John Carlson.  Orpik has brought a dimension that the others don’t have.  His 208 hits not only leads all NHL defensemen by a comfortable margin (Toronto’s Roman Polak is second with 179), but he has almost as many as the other three Caps defensemen mentioned, combined (218).

5.  The Caps have the third-best net plus-minus in the league (plus-13).  Maybe that is significant, maybe it’s not, but they neighborhood in which the Caps play here is significant.  The top five are Nashville, the New York Rangers, Vancouver, Anaheim, and the Caps.

The Peerless’ Players to Ponder

Los Angeles: Drew Doughty

It only seems as if Drew Doughty never leaves the ice.  Skating 29:25 in ice time per game he averages in excess of six minutes more than the next player on the Kings’ ice time scale among defensemen (Jake Muzzin: 23:18/game).  He leads the league in ice time (Ryan Suter: 29:17).  He has logged more than 30 minutes a whopping 24 times this season, nine more than Suter and 18 more than Erik Karlsson and Shea Weber, who are tied for third-most on that list among NHL defensemen.  Here is another way to look at that number.  Doughty has had 24 games skating more than 30 minutes; there have been only 24 defensemen who have done it at all this season.  One wonders if it is too much.  Consider that coming into this season, Doughty had skate more than 30 minutes in the regular season only eight times.  He has never skated more than 30 minutes in eight career games against the Caps, but he is 1-2-3, plus-3 in those games.

Washington: Mike Green

We are 17 days from the NHL trading deadline, which means that the heat is going to be turned up on all the Mike Green trade rumors.  He is not making it easy on the Capitals to trade him.  Since he had a six-game streak without a point in late November into early December, Green is 2-19-21, plus-6, in 24 games.  What is almost more amazing is that he has been shooting in a little bit of bad luck.  Those two goals have come on 50 shots, a 4.0 shooting percentage.  His career shooting percentage is 8.3 percent (even if one includes only his post-Norris finalist years it is 6.8 percent).  As it is, despite ranking 110^th in total minutes by defensemen this season and 119^th in average ice time per game, Green ranks eighth in points per game 0.72), between Erik Karlsson in eighth and Shea Weber in tenth.  He is 2-2-4, minus-1, in seven career games against Los Angeles.

In the end…

The Caps played a solid game against the Kings in their meeting at Verizon Center on February 3^rd, but this is another instance of having a poor record in the west coast half of the all-time series.  The Caps have lost their last four meetings against the Kings in Los Angeles, their last win coming in December 2005 when Jamie Heward scored a pair of power play goals, and Brian Sutherby scored a shorthanded goal in a 3-2 win. 

The problem, as it seems to be on California trips, is scoring goals.  The Caps have only six goals in their four straight losses to the Kings in Los Angeles.  Of more recent concern, the Caps had scored only five goals in three road games before breaking out with five in their win over San Jose on Wednesday.  Getting the kind of secondary scoring the Caps had in that win in San Jose is something that can’t be counted upon on a night-by-night basis (it is secondary scoring for a reason), but it is nice to know they have it in them to get it.  In this one, the stars might need to show up.

Capitals 4 – Kings 2

A TWO-Point Night -- Game 55: Capitals 5 - Sharks 4 (OT)

The Washington Capitals got their California trip off to a good start on Wednesday night, shrugging off a late game-tying goal by the San Jose Sharks to grab a 5-4 overtime win.

It was secondary scoring deluxe for the Caps, who got goals from Jay Beagle (twice!), Troy Brouwer, John Carlson, and the game-winner from Joel Ward. Beagle got the Caps started late in the first period when he batted home a rebound of a Brooks Orpik shot.

The Caps took that one-goal lead into the second period, where is lasted all of 21 seconds, Brent Burns scoring on a power play to tie the game. Just 22 seconds after that, the Sharks scored again on another Burns tally.

Troy Brouwer got the Caps back into the game in the seventh minute of the period when he tipped in a pass from Alex Ovechkin disguised as a wrist shot from the left wing circle on a power play.

The back-and forth continued when Logan Couture gave the Sharks a lead before the second intermission on a wrap-around goal that beat goalie Braden Holtby before he could cover the post to his left.

The third period scoring was packed into a three-minute stretch of the third period, Beagle opening the scoring with his second of the game. Beagle was the recipient of good fortune as San Jose’s Mirco Mueller was blocked by the linesman from closing in on Beagle as he broke into the Sharks’ zone. With Mueller blocked out of the play, Beagle had a clear path to the net, where he cut across the low slot and backhanded the puck past goalie Antti Niemi.

John Carlson gave the Caps the lead when he took a no-look pass from Marcus Johansson, stepped up, and wristed the puck over Niemi’s glove and inside the post to make it 4-3.

The lead lasted barely a minute, though. Joe Thornton tied the game once more when he took a cross-ice pass from Joe Pavelski and flipped the puck over Braden Holtby’s left shoulder and under the cross bar.

Tied it would remain in regulation. In overtime, the Caps broke into the San Jose zone on a 3-on-2 rush. Ward started the play by carrying the puck into the Sharks’ zone and leaving it for Jay Beagle in the middle. Beagle seemed not to have full control of the puck, but still managed to slide it over to Mike Green skating in on the left side. Green’s backhand was stopped by Niemi, but Ward had inside position on Brent Burns at the top of the crease, putting him in perfect position to sanp the puck past Niemi’s left pad and into the back of the net for the 5-4 win.

Other stuff…

-- Jay Beagle… Three points (first three-point game of his career), two goals (second time in his career), first star of the game, first NHL star of the night.  Nice night’s work.

-- More Beagle… the two goals gave him nine on the season, almost as many as he recorded in the previous three seasons combined (10), and the three points put him at 17 points, a career high and equal to his previous two seasons combined.

-- Defense: “The Good.”  John Carlson had a goal and an assist and was a plus-3.  He is now tied for sixth in scoring (7-31-38) among defensemen with Nashville’s Roman Josi and is tied for eighth in plus-minus (plus-16).

-- Defense: “The Bad.”  Matt Niskanen had a tough night.  Three giveaways and a minus-2.

-- The Defense: “The Good.” Brooks Orpik had a pair of assists, his first two assist game since he recorded a pair of helpers in the Caps’ 6-2 win over New Jersey on October 16th.  He had six hits for a bit of normalcy in his stat sheet line.

-- The Defense: “The Weird.”  Back to Carlson.  He was on ice for six of the nine goals, four for the Caps, two for the Sharks.

-- Nicklas Backstrom just keeps rolling along.  Two assists, his fifth multi-point game in his last 12 contests over which he is 3-12-14 overall.

-- All of a sudden the Caps are avoiding the penalty box.  Holding San Jose to a single power play was the second consecutive game and third in their last five in which they held an opponent to a single man advantage.  Maybe it’s a good thing, too.  San Jose scored on its power play, making the Caps just six for nine killing penalties over those five games (66.7 percent).

-- Andre Burakovsky had an odd night.  In 9:52 of total ice time his score sheet is completely blank save for one thing.  He was a plus-2.  Thank you, Jay Beagle (Burakovsky was on ice for both goals).

-- Burakovsky did not have a shot attempt for the game, which is not all that surprising given he was getting fourth line minutes.  But Evgeny Kuznetsov not recording a shot attempt?  That is a bit more odd, given Kuznetsov gets second line minutes.

In the end…

It was an “old school” sort of game, if by “old” you mean the days of Bruce Boudreau (pre-trap).  Coaches and old-old school types might cringe as some of the hijinks, but for fans it was about as entertaining a game as it gets in the NHL.  For the Caps family it had to be especially satisfying, the win being their first in the hockey portion of a game (regulation or overtime) in San Jose in more than 21 years (October 30, 1993).  More important in the here and now, it was the sort of game the sons can talk over with their dads on this trip and for years to come.  If they can do as well in Los Angeles on Saturday, even better.

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!! -- Game 55: Capitals at Sharks, February 11th

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!!

This week it is “Westward, ho!” for the Washington Capitals as they head to the Golden State for three games.  First up is a visit to San Jose, where the Caps hope to build on the one-in-a-row winning streak against the Sharks at the SAP Center at San Jose.

The idea of “one-in-a-row” is hardly insignificant for the Caps, who before beating the Sharks in a 3-2 trick shot decision last March had gone winless in 12 straight games dating back to December 1995 (11 losses and one tie).  The arena had as many names (three: San Jose Arena, Compaq Center, HP Pavilion) as the Caps did in San Jose, all-time, before the win last March.  As it is, the Caps have not won a game in the hockey portion of the contest (regulation or overtime) in San Jose since October 30, 1993, when Keith Jones, Mike Ridley, Peter Bondra, and Craig Berube scored goals, and Rick Tabaracci stopped 25 of 27 shots in a 4-2 win, the last of five straight wins overall for the Caps to open their franchise series against San Jose. Since then, the Caps are 5-20-2 against the Sharks, with one tie.  The Caps have been little more than surfboarders on the Great Barrier Reef as great white sharks feast on them.

February 2015 has not been kind to the Sharks, however.  After wrapping up January with a three-game winning streak to push them to a season-high ten games over .500, the Sharks are 1-3-1 in February, exhibiting a leaky defense (17 goals allowed) in the process.  That leaky defense ends with Antti Niemi in goal, who is 1-2-1, 2.96, .907, over those five games.  Those are not particularly bad numbers, but neither are they good.  He has allowed four or more goals in three of those four contests, all losses.

Niemi has been one of those goaltenders who is perfectly capable of doing his job well, if not at an elite level.  For example, since the 2009-2010 season, when Niemi played in 39 games in his first full season with the NHL (with Chicago), 35 goaltenders have appeared in at least 150 games (Niemi has appeared in 317).  In that group, Niemi ranks tenth in goals-against average (2.37), but he ranks smack in the middle – 17th – in save percentage (.916).  That he should rank third in wins (180, behind only Henrik Lundqvist with 192 and Marc-Andre Fleury with 202) speaks to a certain amount of good fortune in having played for teams that surrounded him with talent, as was the case in that 2009-2010 season when he and the Blackhawks won a Stanley Cup.  Not that this has hurt his history against the Caps.  Niemi has not lost to the Caps in regulation time in seven career appearances (5-0-2, 2.19, .922, 1 shutout).

At the other end, Joe Pavelski leads the Sharks in scoring for February, both in goals and total points (3-2-5).  A guy who suffers something of a “west coast curse” when it comes to getting credit, Pavelski has become a very reliable goal scorer.  He has 116 goals over his last four seasons spanning 267 games, a 36-goal pace per 82 games.  And, he is durable, not having missed a game in those four seasons.  His 15 power play goals is tied for the league lead (with Alex Ovechkin), and his 22 power play points is tied for fifth in the league.  He is 6-4-10, plus-4, in ten career games against the Caps.

Brent Burns is the only defenseman to have played in all 55 games for the Sharks this season.  He leads the blue line in scoring in February (1-3-4) and is tied for third overall in league scoring by defensemen (12-28-40).  He has been alternating games with and without points over his last eight contests, so if the pattern holds it will be good news for Caps fans.  He is 2-4-6, even, in nine career games against Washington.

Here is how the teams compare overall…

1.  San Jose has won 486 games over the last ten-plus seasons.  Their per-82 game season record over that span is 48-24-10.  Only the Detroit Red Wings have won more games (494).  And here is the odd thing.  For all the ink spent on documenting the Sharks’ woes in the post season, only Boston (60) and Detroit (70) have won more playoff games over that span of time (58, tied with Pittsburgh).

2.  Games involving the Sharks tend to be a bit one-sided.  San Jose has only 24 one-goal decisions in 55 games (tied for ninth-fewest in the league).  Their record in such games is not especially successful (11-6-7, 20th in winning percentage).  They are somewhat better in games decided by more than one goal (17-14).

3.  Don’t bet on shutout for either team. San Jose is tied for the sixth fewest number of times shut out this season (twice), the same as the Caps, and have not been blanked since dropping a 2-0 decision to Calgary on November 26th.

4.  San Jose is not the most effective team at 5-on-5.  Their 0.93 ratio of goals scored to goals allowed is 24th in the league, and that would appear to be a product of what is happening at the defensive end of the ice.  Only six teams have allowed more than the 106 5-on-5 goals allowed by the Sharks.

5.  The Sharks make up for a certain 5-on-5 defensive deficiency by avoiding shorthanded situations, especially at home. Only four teams have been shorthanded fewer times than the Sharks this season (71 in 28 home games).

1.  The 71 shorthanded opportunities faced by the Sharks at home this season has a nice symmetry with the Caps’ power play opportunities on the road – 71 in 27 games, fourth-fewest in the league.

2.  Only Dallas has more second period goals scored (71) than the Caps (59, tied with Toronto). Only five teams have allowed fewer second period goals than the Caps (35).

3.  The Caps have three losses in extra time when leading after two periods.  Only Edmont (4), Winnipeg (5), and New Jersey (6) have more.  Only Colorado (9) has more losses in extra time when trailing first than the Caps (6).

4.  Your weird shootout fact.  The Caps have taken the fourth highest number of shots in the shootout on the road so far this season (20).  They all came in one game, that against the Florida Panthers in a 2-1 loss on December 16th.

5.  Washington is one of three teams to have two defensemen with more than 30 points (Joh Carlson: 36; Mike Green: 32).  Calgary (Mark Giordano and T.J. Brodie) and Nashville (Roman Josi and Shea Weber) are the others.

The Peerless’ Players to Ponder

San Jose: Joe Thornton

Sometimes it just seems Joe Thornton has been forgotten when it comes to discussions about elite players, especially since the 2005-2006 lockout.  However, only Jaromir Jagr has more assists (1,068) among active players than Thornton (886), and only Jagr has more points (1,784) than Thornton (1,239).  Thornton is 13th among active players in goals scored (353).  Although he is in his fifth straight season averaging less than one point per game, he is still in the top-20 in points per game over those four-plus seasons overall (0.90/game; 19th, minimum 200 games).  He does not seem to be slowing down much at age 35.  He comes into this game 4-19-23 in his last 22 games.  In 38 career games against the Capitals, Thornton is 12-26-38, plus-9, and he has been effective on the power play (6-10-16 in those 38 games).

Washington: Joel Ward

Back on December 9th, Joel Ward recorded an assist against the Tampa Bay Lightning in a 5-3 win.  It marked consecutive games with points for Ward and a 9-7-16, plus-2 start to his season over 27 games.  Since then, Ward is 2-3-5, minus-1 over his last 27 games.  Getting Ward to contribute some more in the offensive end would go a long way toward clinching a playoff sport for the Caps and perhaps finishing at or near the top of the Metropolitan Division.  He does have four of his 11 goals against Pacific Division opponents, though, three of them on the power play (three of those four goals came over two games against Calgary, so Cheerless advised me not to make too much of that, even as good as Calgary has been this year).  It isn’t really for lack of shooting that the goals have not been coming.  He had nine goals on 48 shots (18.8 percent) in his first 26 games, and he has two goals on 54 shots (3.7 percent) in his last 27 games.  One would like to think that the pendulum swings both ways, but one would also like to see that pendulum swinging to the other side pretty soon for Ward.  He is 5-2-7, minus-3, in 16 career games against San Jose.

In the end…

California has not been kind to the Caps over the last 20 years,  but the games are on the schedule, so you have to play them.  And it’s not like any of the California teams have an aura of invincibility about them.  The Caps have already beaten both the Los Angeles Kings and the Anaheim Ducks this season (in the last eight days, although both games were at home), and the Sharks have been beatable of late, losing their last three games on home ice (to Edmonton, Carolina, and Calgary…go figure).  Washington broke the jinx in SAP Center at San Jose last year; now it’s time to take care of the streak in regulation time.

Washington will need more offense than they have been able to generate lately (12 goals in their last six games), which means more contributions from players like Joel Ward, Brooks Laich (no goals in his last 15 games), Jason Chimera (two goals in his last 21 games), and even a Matt Niskanen (no even strength goals this season).  As the Caps approach the last third of the season, getting everyone rowing in the same direction is going to be important.  Wednesday night would be a good time to start.

Capitals 4 – Sharks 3

A NO-Point Night -- Game 54: Flyers 3 - Capitals 1

Sometimes teams win games.  Sometimes, they lose them.  For the Washington Capitals it was the latter on Sunday afternoon as they lost to the Philadelphia Flyers, 3-1.  Let us explain.

The Flyers didn’t win as much as the Capitals lost, the Caps having recorded 21 missed shots among 51 shot attempts, scoring just once on a power play goal by Alex Ovechkin.  It was a case of the Caps spraying shot attempts anywhere but on net.  Ovechkin had seven shot attempts, three misses.  Troy Brouwer had three attempts, all misses.  Brooks Laich, four attempts…three misses.  Mike Green…three attempts, all misses.  John Carlson…eight attempts, four misses. 

As is was, the Caps managed only 14 shots on goal against two Flyer goaltenders, and they missed an opportunity to tie the Pittsburgh Penguins in standings points in the Metropolitan Division.

After a scoreless first period, the Flyers broke on top in the first minute of the second period when Mark Streit’s drive from the left point pinballed in and past goalie Braden Holtby.  Ovechkin tied the game mid-way through the period just after a 5-on-3 advantage expired.  He took a feed from Evgeny Kuznetsov and wristed the puck past Ray Emery, who was in goal in relief of starter Steve Mason after Mason departed with a lower body injury. 

The Flyers broke the tie less than four minutes into the third period on a goal by Wayne Simmonds, who beat Holtby to the far side from the left wing circle.  The Caps could not get the equalizer, and Jakub Voracek potted an empty net power play goal in the last minute for the final 3-1 margin.

Other stuff…

-- For the Caps it was the sixth time they had a chance to extend a winning streak to four games this season and the sixth time they failed to do so.

-- Ovechkin tied the New York Rangers’ Rick Nash with his 33^rd goal of the season.  It was his 17^th goal in his last 19 games.

-- Fourteen shots on goal was the fewest in a game for the Caps since they managed only 12 shots on goal in a 3-0 win over the New Jersey Devils on March 18, 2011.  It came within one shot on goal of a record at home, that being when the Caps had only 13 shots in a 4-2 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on March 9, 1975.

-- Even with the miniscule shots on goal total, the Caps out-attempted the Flyers, 51-49.

-- Washington had six power play opportunities, the most they had since getting six chances in a 3-2 overtime loss to Columbus on December 11^th and tying their high for the season.

-- The Caps managed only three shots on goal in 10:11 of power play ice time, none on either of the first two power plays.

-- Matt Niskanen had his one fight for the season when he took on Scott Laughton in the first period.  Niskanen has now had one fighting major in each of the last four seasons.  It was the extended result of Niskanen drilling Laughton on an open ice hit in the last meeting of these teams back on January 14^th.

-- With an assist, Evgeny Kuznetsov has points in his last four games, a career high for a points streak.

-- The Caps almost made it all the way through the contest without allowing a Flyer power play goal.  It was not until Tom Wilson took a boarding penalty with 1:13 left that the Caps found themselves shorthanded.  With the Caps down a goal at the time, the timing could have been better.

-- That was the first time that Braden Holtby lost a game when allowing two or fewer goals since he lost a 2-1 decision to the Buffalo Sabres last November 22^nd.

In the end…

The Caps just didn’t seem mentally prepared to play this game.  Part of it might have been a desperate Flyers team looking to carve into a division rival's lead in standings points, but the Caps seemed a step behind throughout.  Even when presented the opportunity of facing a backup goalie after Steve Mason had to bow out with an injury, the spark was not there.  It happens over the course of an 82 game season, but the timing was not the best given that the Caps now head west for a three-game road trip in California and a trip to Pittsburgh to face the Penguins before returning home in ten days.  Given the crowding at the top of the Metropolitan Division at the moment, these were two points that the Caps should have pocketed but did not.

Washington Capitals: That Was The Week That Was -- Week 18

In Week 18 the Washington Capitals hit the 50-game mark of the season.  Game 50 would be the only loss of the week for the Caps as they finished with a three-game winning streak that propelled them to within two points of the top spot in the Metropolitan Division by week’s end.  It was a return to a winning week and the latest in a long march that has seen the Caps go 18-5-6 since they were 10-10-4 on December 2^nd.

Record: 3-1-0

The Caps lost the week’s first game, a 4-3 decision against the St. Louis Blues.  It was the first loss in regulation time at home for the Caps in 2015, and it broke a streak of ten straight games at home earning points (8-0-2).  That would be the last loss of the week for Washington as the assembled their sixth three-game winning streak of the year.

Of the four decisions for the week, there were three of the one-goal variety.  That made 34 one-goal decisions for the Caps (14-10-10), most in the league.  One of the one-goal wins came against the Anaheim Ducks. Until Corey Perry scored for the Ducks to tie the game, 2-2, with just over six minutes left in regulation time, the Caps were on a path to give the Ducks their first one-goal loss in regulation this season.  As it was, the 3-2 trick shot win over the Ducks gave Anaheim only their seventh loss (all in extra time, five in the Gimmick) in 30 one-goal decisions.

Offense: 2.75/game (season: 2.91 /game; rank: 8th)

The offense had a European bent to it in Week 18.  Alex Ovechkin led the club in goals (three) and points (five), Evgeny Kuznetsov chipped in a goal and three assists, as did Nicklas Backstrom.  Ovechkin had a three-point game to open the week, while Backstrom had a pair of two-point games.  It brought the total of multi-point games for both to 17^th, tied for second in the league this season behind the Dallas Stars’ Tyler Seguin.  For Kuznetsov the four-point week left him in eighth place among rookies in total scoring (22 points).

Mike Green had three assists for the week from the blue line in three games before sitting out the Caps win over Anaheim with an injury.  His two-point game against St. Louis to open the week left him with 11 multi-point games this season, tied for the league lead among defensemen with Pittsburgh’s Kris Letang.  Among defensemen playing in at least 30 games this season, Green is fourth in the league in points per game (0.22).

Defense: 1.75/game (season: 2.42 /game; rank: 7th)

When the Caps allowed 40 shots on goal to the St. Louis Blues to open Week 18, it was the first time since allowing 40 to the Chicago Blackhawks on November 7^th in a 3-2 win, and it was the first time the Caps allowed that many shots on goal at home all season.  They returned to normal over the last three games of the week, yielding a total of only 78 shots on goal (26.0 per game).

There has been a fair amount of rending of garments over the Caps’ situation at right wing on the top line.  Over the passage of time the Caps have employed Tom Wilson, Andre Burakovsky, Jay Beagle, Marcus Johansson, Eric Fehr, Mike Gartner, Bobby Gould, and Hartland Monahan at the position (ok, not the last three) in an effort to find a reliable partner.  In Week 18 the issue was at the defensive end of the ice.  Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom were on ice together for three of the seven goals against.  Three different players were on the right wing when the goals were scored – Jay Beagle, Troy Brouwer , and Marcus Johansson.  The hunt continues.

Goaltending: 1.72 / .941 / 1 SO   (season: 2.33 / .918 / 6 shutouts)

For the first time this season the Caps employed three goaltenders over the course of a week.  Justin Peters opened the week, and his experience was one of showing the effects of rust on how he was able to manage his game (most notable rebounds) and his teammates picking the wrong time to be so porous in shots allowed (40).  The combination was not conducive to winning as the Caps fell behind the eight-ball early against the Blues (a power play goal in the third minute) and could never overtake the visitors.

Braden Holtby got the middle two games of the week and was, as he has been over the past three months, excellent.  Not that he didn’t have help. The Caps rediscovered their ability to minimize chances.  Holtby had to face only 12 shots on goal in the first period of the two games combined, stopping all of them.  Peters faced more than that in each of the first two period of his game against St. Louis.  Still, Holtby stopped 52 of 53 shots faced for the week (.981 save percentage).  It is part of a longer run that is rather amazing.  In his last four-plus games Holtby has stopped 118 of 120 shots faced (.983 save percentage) since allowing a goal to Columbus’ Cam Atkinson 5:20 into the Caps’ 4-3 loss to the Blue Jackets on January 27^th.

Philipp Grubauer was called up from Hershey to man the nets in the last game of the week.  He continued the fine work he was showing with the Bears.  In his last 10 games with Hershey before his call up, Grubauer was 7-2-1, 1.62, .934, with one shutout.  He looked a bit nervous in the opening period against Anaheim but held the Ducks to only a late power play goal.  The Caps locked down the Ducks in the second and third period, and Grubauer was almost perfect with the light work.  He allowed Corey Perry to bank a shot off his left skate for the tying goal in the third period, but he turned away both shots in overtime and two of three in the freestyle competition to get the game’s first star and his first win of the year.

Power Play: 2-for-8 / 25.0 percent (season: 23.4 percent; rank: 3rd)

Week 18 was a good week for the power play; there just wasn’t enough of it.  In each of the first two games of the week the Caps enjoyed three power plays, scoring a goal in each game.  In the last two games of the week they managed to be awarded only one man advantage in each, failing to register on either of them.  It was the first time since November 20the and 22^nd that the Caps were awarded only one power play in consecutive games and the first time they went consecutive games with just one power play in each without scoring since April 23^rd and 25^th in the 2012-2013 season.

It made for an uneven week.  In the first two games of the week the Caps were 2-for-6 on 2-for-10 shooting in 12:17 of power play time.  Effective, if not terribly efficient on a shots per minute basis.  In the last two games of the week the Caps were 0-for-2 on 0-for-3 shooting in four minutes of power play time.  That might be as much a product of the infrequency of occurrences.  As it was, the usual suspects were involved in the scoring.  Mike Green and Nicklas Backstrom assisted on both goals, one by Alex Ovechkin and one by Troy Brouwer.

Penalty Killing: 8-for-10 / 80.0 percent / (season: 80.9 percent; rank: 18th)

It was a good week for the Caps, better than it looked for that matter.  The why was in the goaltending.  Justin Peters and Philipp Grubauer combined to stop 10 of 12 shots over 8:35 of penalty killing time, while Braden Holtby stopped all seven shots he faced in killing off all five power plays he faced in ten minutes of shorthanded ice time.  Part of it was opportunities.  The Caps held the Los Angeles Kings to just one power play opportunity and no shots on goal on the man advantage. 

The highlight of the week might have been the third period of the 2-1 win over Ottawa, an episode that held the good and the bad.  The bad was taking three minor penalties in the first 5:08 of the period.  The good was killing all of them off as Holtby turned away all six shots in six minutes of shorthanded ice time.

Even Strength Goals for/Goals Against: 9-5 / plus-4 (season, 5-on-5 goals for/goals against ratio: 1.14; rank: 8th)

Winning the even strength battle was something the Caps didn’t do well last season, finishing 23^rd in the league in 5-on-5 goals for/goals against ratio (0.90) and 24^th in Corsi-for percentage at 5-on-5 (47.7).  They have improved significantly in this area this season, rising to eighth in goals for/goals against ratio (1.14) and tenth in Corsi-for percentage (51.7). 

This week the Caps dominated the even strength battle, but three of the four-goal margin was earned in the Caps’ 4-0 shutout of the Los Angeles Kings.  The Caps are still playing games close to the margin, relying more on holding down opponents’ scoring (five even strength goals in the other three games this week) than scoring them (six in the three other games of the week).

Faceoffs: 114-212 / 53.8 percent (season: 51.4 percent; rank: 9th)

The Caps had a good week in the circle, winning three of the four games and two of the three zones.  They were especially good in the defensive end, winning 41 of 66 draws (62.1 percent).  It was even better considering the players who regularly take draws on the top three lines.  Nicklas Backstrom (13-for-19), Troy Brouwer (8-for-12), and Eric Fehr (6-for-7) were a combined 27-for-38 (71.1 percent) in the defensive zone for the week.  In the offensive zone that trio was not as effective, going a combined 25-for-53 (47.2 percent), Fehr the only one to finish over 50 percent (7-for-11).  Meanwhile, there was Jay Beagle, quiet and consistent, winning all three zones of the week from the fourth line – 3-for-4 in the offensive end, 5-for-8 in the defensive zone, and 4-for-5 in the neutral zone to post the best numbers for the week (12-for-17, 70.6 percent).

Goals by Period:

For the Caps the week was spotting teams goals early (first goals scored by all three opponents against the Kings), then trying to close the gap late.  It did not work against the Blues, despite getting goals in each of the second and third periods.  It did work late in the week, though, as the Caps spotted Ottawa and Anaheim goals but scored three second period goals and one in the third period on their way to a pair of one-goal wins.  It left the Caps a consistent group in scoring by period for the season in a comparative sense – tied for eighth in first period goals scored (43), third in second period goals scored, and tied for 11^th in goals scored in the third period – and consistent in goal differential by period (plus-8 in each of the first and third periods, plus-13 in the second period).

In the end…

The Caps have been the tortoise in an 82-game season.  Without the benefit of a winning streak of more than three games all season, they are only two points out of the Metropolitan Division lead.  Five of those three-game streaks have come since December 2^nd, the fifth of them authored in the last three games of the week. 

As for Week 18, a loss to St. Louis being the only blemish was disappointing, as any loss might be, but not discouraging given that came in the second of a back-to-back set of games against a team that was on a 9-0-1 run at the time.  The end of the week was a lot more pleasant, especially beating the defending Stanley Cup champions and then sweeping a back-to-back set of games that showed off the depth of goaltending in the organization.  Missing the services of Mike Green, who sat out the last game of the week with an injury, was a bit disturbing, but on balance, it was still a very good week.

Three Stars:

• First Star: Braden Holtby (2-0-0, 0.50, .981, 1 shutout)
• Second Star:  Alex Ovechkin (3-2-5, plus-1, 16 shots on goal, 45 shot attempts, 15 hits)
• Third Star: Evgeny Kuznetsov (1-3-4, plus-3, shootout goal)

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!! -- Game 54: Flyers at Capitals, February 8th

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!!

The Washington Capitals take the ice looking for their fourth consecutive win when they host the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday afternoon at Verizon Center.  This will be the sixth time this season that the Caps take a three-game winning streak into a game looking for a fourth straight win.  Washington has yet to grab that fourth straight win.

The Flyers come into this game having earned points in their last five games (4-0-1).  Four of those decisions were of the one-goal variety, three of them going to extra time.  The longest points streak of the season might have come too late for the Flyers, though.  Sitting in fifth place in the Metropolitan Division and tenth place in the Eastern Conference, nine points out of a playoff spot with 30 games to play, there might be too many teams to climb over and too few games in which to do it for the orange and black.

At the moment, though, the Flyers are on a run led by a stingy defense.  A big part of that has been the play of goaltender Steve Mason.  After missing six games with a knee injury, Mason has been in net for the last four games, going 3-0-1, 1.23, .959, and a shutout of the Toronto Maple Leafs on January 31^st.  It is part of a longer run of good play by Mason in the 2015 portion of the season.  Since the calendar turned over, he is 5-1-1 (two no-decisions), 1.51, .948, and the shutout.  As it is, Mason has the third best save percentage at even strength this season (.937), behind only Pekka Rinne (.938) and Carey Price (.939) among goalies appearing in at least 30 games. In 12 career appearances against the Caps, Mason is 7-3-2, 2.77, .908, with two shutouts.

At the other end of the ice the Flyers have 14 goals in their 4-0-1 run.  Nine players share in the goal scoring, led by Chris VandeVelde with three.  It is an unexpected outburst, part of a longer run in which he has five goals in his last seven games.  In his previous 81 games covering parts of five seasons with the Edmonton Oilers and the Flyers, VandeVelde had only four career goals.  Sustainable?  Five goals on his last ten shots on goal over seven games is probably a short term trend, but he will be someone to watch.  In four career games against the Caps he has one assist.

Sixteen Flyers share points in their recent five-game string of success.  Wayne Simmonds and Michael Del Zotto each have a pair of goals and a pair of assists to lead the overall scoring.  For Simmonds, four points in his last four games comes on the heels of a five-game streak without a point and eight without a goal.  Simmonds still leads the Flyers in goals (18), power play goals (11), and game-winning goals.  He has faced the Caps 18 times in his career and is 3-5-8, plus-1.

Del Zotto is engaged in something of a rehabilitation of his career.  After going 10-31-41, plus-20 for the New York Rangers in 2011-2012, then following it up with 21 points in 46 games in the abbreviated 2012-2013 season, his offensive production from the blue line dried up last season.  He recorded only two goals and 11 points in 41 games with the Rangers, then had only a goal and five points in 25 games with the Nashville Predators after the Rangers traded him for defenseman Kevin Klein.  Del Zotto is 5-12-17 in 40 games for the Flyers, his point total second on the club among defensemen.  In 21 career games against Washington he is 0-7-7, plus-4.

Here is how the teams compare overall:

1.  Philadelphia has played reasonably well in one-goal games, posting a record of 11-8-8 (including a 3-2 overtime win over the Capitals on January 8^th).  In games decided by more than one goal, the Flyers are 11-14.  In their 4-0-1 run, they are 3-0-1 in one-goal decisions.

2.  The Flyers have been nicked up on the blue line all season.  Only Mark Streit has appeared in all 52 games this season, and only Nick Schultz (50) has appeared in more than 42 games among the ten defensemen to dress for Philadelphia this season.

3.  When it comes to penalties, the Flyers seem to be either in the protection racket or polishing their reputation.  While they have the 11^th fewest number of minor penalties, the Flyers are tied for seventh in fighting majors.  Either they are protecting their skill players (or, given their place in the standings, what passes for skill), or…well, they’re the Flyers.

4.  Getting an early lead is something that manages to elude the Flyers regularly.  Only Florida has scored first in fewer games (19 times in 50 games) than Philadelphia (20 in 52 games).

5.  Possession is an issue for the Flyers.  They have the seventh-worst Corsi-for percentage at 5-on-5 (48.3), eighth-worst in close score situations (47.9). Only three players appearing in at least 20 games have individual Corsi-for percentages above 50 percent – Michael Raffl (55.8), Jakub Voracek (54.1), and Claude Giroux (52.4).

1.  The Caps fell behind in each of their last two games and won both contests.  Before that they had one just once all season when falling behind first.  The flip side of that is their record when scoring first.  Not only is their 25-1-4 record the second-best winning percentage in the league (.883; Montreal is .870), but they have scored first 30 times in 53 games.  Only four teams have scored first more often – the New York Rangers (31), Tampa Bay Lightning (32), Pittsburgh Penguins (33), and Winnipeg Jets (33).

2. The Caps are 10-1-1 in their last dozen games at home, outscoring opponents by a 37-20 margin.  Their special teams index in this home streak is impressive at 112.7 (27.3 percent power play, 85.4 percent penalty kill).

3.  Only four teams have spent less total power play time at home than the Caps (129:44) – New Jersey (122:27), Carolina (117:36) and Boston (103:00).

4.  The Caps have a standings points record over .500 when out-shooting opponents (12-10-5) and a record over .500 when outshot (11-5-5).  However, they are undefeated when shots are even (5-0-0).

5.  The Caps don’t do blowouts.  Well, not often.  Only Florida has had fewer decision of three or more goals (9) than the Caps (11).  No team has fewer losses by three or more goals than the Caps (2).

The Peerless’ Players to Ponder

Philadelphia: Sean Couturier

Sean Couturier was an eighth overall draft pick of the Flyers in the 2011 entry draft.  He made the jump right to the Flyers after 41-goal and 36-goal years with Drummondville in the QMJHL.  One might have anticipated that he would take his place as a scoring line forward with the big club. So far, that has not been the case, at least the scoring part.  Couturier has 41 goals in 257 career games, a 13-goal pace per 82 games.  That does not make the 22-year old a failure, by any means.  However, his role might be a little different than what might have been envisioned.  Couturier is second among Flyer forwards in ice time per game, due in large part to his leading the club’s forwards in shorthanded ice time.  With so much shorthanded ice time comes power play goals allowed, and no forward in the league has been on ice for more power play goals against, and it’s not close.  Couturier has been on ice for 28 power play goals against (half of his total) while his teammate Matt Read and the New York Islanders’ Frans Nielsen have been on ice for 21 power play goals against.  He has not been making it up in the offensive end; he is 2-1-3 in his last 16 games.  Couturier is 3-3-6, plus-2, in 14 career games against the Caps.

Washington:  Braden Holtby

The Washington Capitals have an excellent record at home over the last two months, and much of that id due to goalie Braden Holtby.  Since he lost a 4-3 decision to the Vancouver Canucks on December 2^nd, Holtby is 9-0-2, 1.53, .947, with three shutouts at Verizon Center.  His three shutouts have come in his last four appearances on home ice.  His sustained level of performance has allowed him to climb into the top five in goals against average (2.14/5^th), save percentage (.925/4^th), shutouts (6/2nd), and minutes (2,634/1^st).  Holtby also has a fine record against Metropolitan Division teams.  In 17 appearances he is 10-3-4, 2.10, .927 with four shutouts, one of them coming in a 1-0 Caps win over the Flyers on January 14^th.  Holtby is 4-2-4, 3.01, .900, with two shutouts in 11 career appearances against Philadelphia.

In the end…

The Caps have an opportunity with this contest.  A win over a division rival would be satisfying, but two points could leave the Caps tied with the Pittsburgh Penguins at the top of the Metropolitan Division by day’s end.  A win would also allow the Caps to maintain some space over the New York Rangers, no less than a two point lead that would be important given that the Rangers would hold three games in hand on the Caps after tomorrow’s games (the Rangers face the Dallas Stars on Sunday).  A division rival, a crowded group jockeying for position at the top of the division, getting some measure of payback for the overtime loss the Flyers pinned on the Caps a month ago.  They should not lack for motivation. 

Capitals 4 – Flyers 2

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!! -- Game 53: Ducks at Capitals, February 6th

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!!

The Washington Capitals have little time to reflect on their 2-1 win over the Ottawa Senators on Thursday night as they head home to face the Anaheim Ducks at Verizon Center on Friday evening.

The name no longer includes the word “mighty,” but the Ducks have been that so far this season.  With a 34-12-6 record, Anaheim holds the best record in the league and is tied for wins with the St. Louis Blues.

The Ducks come to Washington fresh of consecutive wins, beating the Carolina Hurricanes in a 5-4 overtime decision last Tuesday, then beating the Nashville Predators in what for both clubs was a “statement” game, 5-2 in Nashville last night.

In this abbreviated prognosto, here are some random facts with which to beguile and impress your friends…

-- Anaheim has the best record in the league, but you wonder if there isn’t a fun house mirror sort of quality to it.  They do not rank particularly highly in any high-end statistical category:

• Scoring offense: 2.88 goals/game (10th)
• Scoring defense: 2.62 goals/game (17th)
• 5-on-5 GF/GS ratio: 1.07 (14th)
• Power play: 17.8 percent (16th)
• Penalty killing: 81.5 percent (17th)

-- What the Ducks do is manage leads extremely well.  They are 25-1-5 when scoring first (fourth in winning percentage) and 21-0-2 when taking a lead into the third period (sixt-best winning percentage, one of eight teams not to lose in regulation).

-- One other thing about the Ducks’ game management.  Good luck against them in one-goal games.  They are 23-0-6.  That is the second best winning percentage, and no other team in the league has fewer than two one-goal losses in regulation time.

-- One thing this Anaheim team has in common with the 2007 edition that won a Stanley Cup, they fight.  The Ducks have 23 fighting majors, tied for fourth in the league.  The 2006-2007 club led the league with 71 fighting majors.

-- Washington played their 33rd one-goal game last night and 13th in their last 17 games.  Over both the season (13-10-10) and this recent stretch (5-4-4) they are playing such games at a coin-flip points pace.

-- Seventeen games is more than a fifth of the season, and over that stretch of games Alex Ovechkin is scoring goals at a 77-goal pace over a full season (16).  Sustainable?  Well, no.  He is shooting to a 19.8 percent pace.  His career shooting percentage before this streak was 12.1 percent.

-- On the other hand, the goal scoring streak is something of a reset for Ovechkin.  Before embarking on it he had 16 goals on 173 shots, a 9.2 percent shooting percentage.  As it is, for the season he is shooting 12.6 percent, well in line with his career mark to date of 12.3 percent.

-- Braden Holtby is now top-five in goals against average (2.14/5th), save percentage (.925/5th), and shutouts (six/2nd).  He leads the league in total minutes played (2,634).

-- Holtby’s minutes number is more than 100 more minutes than New Jersey’s Cory Schneider (2,524), who started the season setting a club mark for consecutive starts at the beginning of a season.

-- Evgeny Kuznetsov (20 points) and Andre Burakovsky (19 points) rank ninth and tenth in rookie scoring.  Kuznetsov ranks fourth in rookie power play scoring (7 points).

In the end…

This will be a benchmark game for the Caps in that they are playing the league’s most accomplished team to date.  On the other hand, this will be the Caps’ seventh game in 11 days.  They are 3-2-1 in the first six games of this stretch, and quite frankly that is not altogether bad under the circumstances (three back-to-back sets of games in there). 

The Caps won their first game when allowing the first goal since they beat Chicago, 3-2, back on November 7th.  It would not be something to count on against the Ducks, though, who are a very skilled team at winning when scoring first.  That might be the key to this whole game.  Anaheim is 25-1-5 when scoring first, the Caps are 25-1-4.  Who do you think we have scoring first?

Capitals 3 – Ducks 2

A TWO-Point Night -- Game 52: Capitals 2 - Senators 1

In last night’s game between the Washington Capitals and the Ottawa Senators, the offense came and went in the blink of an eye.  Three goals were scored in a span of 2:02 for all the scoring the game would have. The Caps spotted the Senators the first one, then scored two of their own and escaped with a 2-1 win.

The Senators scored first when they pinned the Caps in their own end and finished off their good work on a wrist shot by Kyle Turris from the slot that sailed over goalie Braden Holtby’s glove at the 12:15 mark.

Just 73 seconds later the Caps tied it.  Andre Burakovsky won a battle along the wall to move the puck down the right wing wall to Tom Wilson.  After circling around the Ottawa net, Wilson threw the puck out to Brooks Orpik at the left point. Orpik’s drive from the point was blocked in front, but the puck skittered to Evgeny Kuznetsov all alone to goalie Robin Lehner’s left.  Kuznetsov snapped the puck in before Lehner could scramble back into position, and it was 1-1.

The score remained that way only 49 seconds.  It started when the Caps dumped the puck in, but Lehner could not stop it behind his own net.  Marcus Johansson picked it up along the right wing wall and fed it across to Jay Beagle skating down the left side.  Beagle spun in, then threw a backhand shot at the net that Lehner blocked.  The puck popped into the air where Alex Ovechkin, who gained inside position on defenseman Erik Karlsson at the top of the crease, swatted it in out of mid-air.

Braden Holtby took over from there, stopping 25 of 26 shots overall, and the Caps had their 2-1 win.

Other stuff…

-- When Turris scored on Holtby it broke a streak of 225:57 of shutout hockey in regulation time for Braden Holtby.

-- The Caps were awarded one power play, their fewest in a game since they had just one in a 4-3 loss against Vancouver on December 2^nd.  That power play was not awarded until there was 3”10 left in the contest.

-- The Caps had unusual balance in their shots on goal.  No player had more than three (four players), and seven players had two shots on goal.

-- Evgeny Kuznetsov’s goal made it points in four of his last six games (2-3-5).

-- The win was the Caps’s first in Ottawa since beating the Senators, 5-3, on December 7, 2011.  The win broke a four-game losing streak in Ottawa.

-- The Caps dominated possession , 50 shot attempts at 5-on-5 to 32 for the Senators and 14 offensive zone starts to seven for the Sens.

-- Speaking of possession, every Capital was even or better in Corsi plus-minus except Mike Green (minus-6) and Jack Hillen (minus-2).  Hillen was the only Capital in negative Fenwick territory (minus-4). 

-- In a space of 6:48 on the game clock early in the third period and the Caps nursing the one-goal lead, they spent six full minutes killing three penalties.  Ottawa got six shots from six different players in those six power play minutes, but none of them found the back of the net.

-- Jason Chimera returned to the lineup last night.  He did not record a point, but he did have three shots on goal, two takeaways, and a faceoff win in 11:33 of ice time.

-- Ovechkin’s 32 goal of the season was his 16th in 17 games.  He has not gone consecutive games without a goal since he had a four-game streak without a goal, December 11-18. 

In the end…

Even if we thought the Caps might break their goal-scoring drought against a goalie who had not yet faced them in his career, this low-scoring result was not surprising in one respect.  Over their last 17 games the Caps have played in 13 one-goal decisions to a record of 5-4-4.  They have not played in consecutive games with a two-or-more goal decision since splitting games with the New York Islanders (a 4-2 loss) and the Pittsburgh Penguins (a 3-0 win) in late December.  They have not won consecutive decisions by two or more goals since beating New Jersey (4-1) and Tampa Bay (5-3) in early December, what is now a streak of 25 games without doing so. 

With the win, the Caps are three points out of the Metropolitan Division lead, the closest they have been to the top spot since October 31st.  Tied with the Rangers for third in division standings points, three points is all that separate the top four teams in the Metro. 

Close margins in games, close packing in the standings.  Hang on.