Washington Capitals Recap: A NO-Point Night: Penguins 6 - Capitals 2

The Washington Capitals do not lose often, but when they do, they often leave no doubt.  The Caps lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins, 6-2, on Sunday night, the seventh time in 15 regulation losses this season in which they lost by three or more goals.  Pittsburgh scored early, and they scored late to offset a mid-game push by the Caps as the Caps lost their third consecutive road game.

It was a case of the Penguins getting contributions from the unexpected portions of their lineup.  Bryan Rust got the Pens off and running mid-way through the first period when he took a spin-o-rama pass from Tom Kuhnhackl, deked goalie Braden Holtby to the ice, and tucked the puck around Holtby’s left pad to make it 1-0, 8:33 into the first period.

Less than two minutes later, it was 2-0.  When the puck squirted free from a scrum at the left wing wall in the Caps’ zone, it ended up on the stick of Sidney Crosby, who threaded a pass between two Caps defenders to Trevor Daley pinching in on the right side.  Daley kicked the puck to his stick, leaned in, and lifted a backhander over Holtby’s glove, off the near post, and into the back of the net to make it 2-0 at the 9:59 mark.

That would do it for the scoring in the first period, and the Caps would make a game of it in the second.  Jason Chimera got the Caps on the board less than two minutes into the period on an odd play.  With the puck sliding into the Penguins’ end, Chimera and Daley were in a race to chase it down.  Chimera got a step on Daley, and seeing this, goalie Marc-Andre Fleury tried to poke check the puck out of harm’s way.  He got a stick on the puck but managed only to bat it off Chimera’s helmet, from which it ricocheted into the net to make it 2-1 just 1:18 into the period.

Washington tied the game late in the period when Jay Beagle collected a loose puck inside his blue line and fed the puck up to Andre Burakovsky behind the Penguin defense after stepping out of the penalty box.  With nothing but clean ice in front of him, Burakovsky skated in and snapped a shot under the left arm of Fleury to make it 2-2 at the 15:12 mark.

If the Caps could have gotten out of the period with no further scoring, things might have been different.  They didn’t, and they weren’t.  On the next shift the Penguins took the lead back.  Tom Kuhnhackl made lemonade out of lemons for what would be the game-winning goal.  After getting knocked off the puck by Justin Williams, he was more or less left alone as the puck found its way to Matt Cullen, who found Kuhnhackl all alone in the right wing circle for a one-timer that beat Holtby to make it 3-2 with 4:06 left in the period.

The third period was all Penguins.  Cullen scored a goal of his own 3:46 into the period when he snuck behind the Caps’ defense, took a pass from Kuhnhackl, and chipped a shot that rolled up and over Holtby to drop into the net to make it 4-2. 

Less than four minute later the Pens put an end to the competitive portion of the game when Sidney Croaby tacked down a puck that floated into the Caps’ zone and backhanded a pass to Chris Kunitz skating down the middle.  Kunitz rifled a shot off the post and behind Holtby to make it 5-2, 7:18 into the period and ending Holtby’s night.

Pittsburgh ended the scoring on a power play 13 minutes into the period on one-timer by Justin Schultz, his first as a Penguin, that sailed past the glove of Philipp Grubauer. 

Other stuff…

-- The hockey gods giveth, and the hockey gods taketh away.  Evgeny Kuznetsov had three assists against Nashville on Friday night.  He was a minus-4 in this game, the worst plus-minus game of his career to date.

-- The six goals allowed by the Caps is the most allowed to an opponent in any game this season.  They allowed five goals on five occasions.

-- Until tonight, the Caps had a single misconduct penalty on their team penalty record for the season.  Mike Weber and Daniel Winnik made it three with the misconduct penalties they took in the third period.

-- Washington had a season-low 18 shots on goal. It was the second game this season in which they recorded fewer than 20 shots, the other one a 19-shot performance on December 3^rd in a 3-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens.  It was just the third time in 13 games that the Caps lost when recording fewer than 25 shots on goal.

-- This was just the second game this season in which the Caps lost by four or more goals, the other coming against San Jose in a 5-0 decision on October 13^th.  If you are wondering, the club record for fewest losses by four or more goals in a season is one, set twice – once in the abbreviated 2012-2013 season and again in 2014-2015.

-- In the “records you don’t want” department, this was the 16^th time in Braden Holtby’s career he allowed five goals in a game.  That ties him with Brent Johnson and Clint Malarchuk for third-most in Caps history, behind Don Beaupre (43) and Olaf Kolzig (84).

-- By the end of this game, the “Jay Beagle Experiment” appeared to be over.  The top line was once more Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, and T.J. Oshie.

-- This was an odd game in terms of penalties.  It was the first time this season that two Capitals recorded more than 10 minutes in penalties in a single game.  It was also the first time this season that a player other than Tom Wilson was the one recording more than 10 minutes.  Mike Weber finished with 19 penalty minutes, while Daniel Winnik finished with 14 minutes in penalties.

-- The Caps had just two shots on goal from defensemen, and they came from two defensemen one might not have anticipated.  Mike Weber and Nate Schmidt had one shot apiece.

-- The possession battle was a bit strange.  Take away special teams, where the Penguins had an 11-2 advantage in shots, and the shots on goal were relatively even, 20-16 in favor of Pittsburgh.  At a more discrete level, the 5-on-5 shot attempts favored the Pens, but only by a 37-34 margin overall.  It was close among the periods, too.  Pittsburgh had a 16-12 edge in the first period, but the Caps had a 12-11 advantage in the second.  The teams were 10-10 in the third period (numbers from war-on-ice.com).

In the end…

If it wasn’t the Penguins, one could chalk this up to it being a bad, but essentially meaningless game late in a regular season that is all but settled for the Caps.  And truth be told, this one might mean more to fans than to the players, whose sights might be trained on April more than they are on the last dozen games of the regular season.  But it was the Penguins, and that matchup will always have meaning on some level.  This was the fourth time since the 2004-2005 lockout that a Capitals-Penguins game was settled by four or more goals, the Penguins winning their third such game.  It that respect, one should be thankful it does not happen often.  On the other, let’s hope the next one, at least one ending in the Penguins’ favor, doesn’t happen for quite some time to come.

Washington Capitals: That Was The Week That Was -- Week 23

Week 23 was a typical week for the Washington Capitals.  After a California trip in Week 22 that was a bit disappointing, the Caps shrugged it off, won two games with solid efforts, and resumed their march into the franchise record book. 

Record: 2-0-0

The juggernaut rolls on.  Week 23 was a light week, but it was the tenth week in which the Caps did not lose a game in regulation and the eighth in which they did not lose at all.  In doing so, the Caps achieved several things.  They became the fourth 50-win club in team history when they opened the week with an overtime win against the Carolina Hurricanes, tying the 1985-1986 and the 2008-2009 clubs in wins.  They became the first team in the Eastern Conference in the post-2004-2005 lockout era to win 50 or more games in a season three times, doing it as the fourth-fastest team to 50 wins in NHL history (69 games, matching the 1975-1976 and 1976-1977 Montreal Canadiens).  They also clinched a playoff spot with that win, the 26^th playoff berth in franchise history.  When the Caps knocked off the Nashville Predators on Friday, they became the third-winningest team in club history. 

Offense:  3.00/game (season: 3.16 /game; rank: 2nd)

The Caps spread their offense around in Week 23 like cream cheese on a bagel.  Five different players shared in the six goals scored for the week, and five other players shared in the seven assists.  Ten different players sharing in such low scoring, given the number of games in the week, was a study in balance.  Then there was the balance of the expected and the unexpected, and the things that should be expected by now, but apparently aren’t, at least by opponents.

As for the expected, there was the overtime goal by Alex Ovechkin to give the Caps a 2-1 win over Carolina to open the week.  It was his 87^th game-winning goal of his career, most in the NHL since he entered the league in 2005-2006 (Daniel Sedin: 68).   It was also his 17^th overtime goal, also a league best since he came into the league (Daniel Sedin: 14). 

Then there was the unexpected.  If you had Daniel Winnik to lead the team in goals for the week, you probably still have your March Madness bracket intact.  Winnik recorded his first two goals as a Capital in the 4-1 win over the Nashville Predators to end the week.  It was the fourth two-goal game of his career and his first since he recorded a pair with the Anaheim Ducks in a 5-4 win over the Calgary Flames on January 21, 2013.

As for what should be expected by now, but rarely seems to be, there was Evgeny Kuznetsov and the back pass from behind the opponent’s net.  Usually it is the result of Kuznetsov circling counter-clockwise behind the net and snapping a pass back in the direction from which he came for a tap-in. Against the Predators, with the score tied at a goal apiece, Kuznetsov played a variation on the theme, circling clockwise behind the Nashville net and backhanding a pass to the trailing T.J. Oshie, who whacked the puck in for what would be the game-winning goal.  Kuznetsov also set up the game-winning overtime goal against Carolina by Alex Ovechkin from behind the net, which has become the last place you want to see Kuznetsov if you are an opponent.

Defense: 1.00/game (season: 2.30 /game; rank: 3rd)

The Caps held opponents under 30 shots on goal in both games of Week 23, extending their streak of such games to three and making it the fifth straight game in which they held an opponent to 30 or fewer shots.  The two games holding opponents under 30 shots made it a total of 40 such games this season for the Caps, the eighth-highest total of sub-30 shot games allowed this season.

The nice thing about a week like this one is no one gets singed too badly in the goals-scored against tables.  No Capital was on ice for more than one goal against for the week.

Possession-wise, it was a better week than it looked for the Caps.  Overall, the Caps finished the week just under 50 percent in Corsi-for at 5-on-5 (49.7 percent).  But that was entirely a product of third-period outcomes, specifically in the Nashville game in which the Caps took a 4-1 lead less than a minute into the period.  Looking at the results by period, the Caps were 59.7 percent Corsi-for at 5-on-5 in the first periods of the two games, and they were 56.4 percent in the second periods of games.  That they were 32.4 percent in the third periods of games is a function of that old notion of “score effects (numbers from war-on-ice.com).”

Goaltending: 0.99 /.957 (season: 2.19 / .923 / 2 shutouts)

Braden Holtby had fine timing this week.  As the Caps head into their last dozen or so games of the regular season, he looked like the Braden Holtby who threated to run away and hide the Vezina Trophy in the 2015 portion of the season.  Allowing a goal in each game of the week made it the first time he allowed fewer than two goals in consecutive games since he held the Montreal Canadiens to a single goal and shutout the Buffalo Sabres back on December 26^th and 28^th.  It was the third time in four games that he allowed a single goal, his record over those games being 3-0-1, 1.68, .933.  Compare that to his 1.86 goals against average and .934 save percentage over the 2014 portion of the season.  If Holtby is shaking off his mid-winter lull and getting back to his “2015” level of performance, that is a bad sign for the rest of the league.

Power Play: 0-for-6 / 0.0 percent (season: 23.2 percent; rank: 2nd)

The power play went dark for Week 23, and it was not pretty.  Against the eighth- and 20^th-ranked teams in the league in penalty killing, the Caps went 0-6.  It was not because of luck.  Washington managed only five shots on goal in 9:03 in power play time.  None of those shots came in their only power play chance against Carolina, the fourth time this season that they were held to a single power play opportunity and sixth time they were held to fewer than two chances.  They are 3-2-1 in those games.

Going 0-for-5 against Nashville was the fourth time this season that the Caps had five or more power play chances and came up empty.  They are 2-2-0 in those games.  They did get two power play shots on goal from Alex Ovechkin, but in coming up empty he finished the week without a power play goal in his last ten games.

Penalty Killing: 4-for-5 / 80.0 percent (season: 84.1 percent; rank: 4th)

The penalty killers had a decent week, made better by having to deal with so few shorthanded situations.  And, what situations they did face they handled rather efficiently.  The penalty killers allowed just five shots on goal in 8:57 of shorthanded ice time.  The one goal scored was a scorer’s goal, a case of Nashville’s Filip Forsberg picking the side of a Mike Ribeiro screen opposite the one goalie Braden Holtby was peeking around to locate the shooter.  What they did not do, and what they have avoided all season, is allowing teams to pile up power play goals within games.  Only twice this season have the Caps allowed more than one power play goal in a game, fewest in the league.  It happened against Columbus in a 5-4 Gimmick loss on January 2nd and again against Florida in a 5-2 loss on February 2nd.

Faceoffs: 58-for-102 / 58.9 percent (season: 49.7% / rank: 19th)

It was a good week in the circle for the Caps.  Washington won both games overall, and they dominated in the ends, winning more than 60 percent of their draws for the week in the offensive (62.9 percent) and defensive (65.7 percent) ends.  It was an especially good week for Evgeny Kuznetsov, who went 21-for-31 for the week (67.7 percent).  Marcus Johansson (55.6 percent) and Nicklas Backstrom (52.2 percent) also finished the week over 50 percent among Caps taking at least ten draws.

Goals by Period:

Scoring first period goals has been a problem for the Caps lately.  In going 0-for-2 in first periods in Week 23 they went their second consecutive week without scoring a goal in the first period of a game.  The Caps have now gone seven straight games without scoring a first-period goal, the last time they did so being when they scored a pair in a 3-2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on March 2^nd.

They made up for that by dominating the second period, outscoring Carolina and Nashville by a combined 4-2 margin.  When couple with the fact that the Caps held both teams without a goal in the first period, they could work their late-game charm, winning their sixth game in overtime this season and winning their 34^th game when leading after two periods, tops in the league.

In the end…

Week 23 was the 20^th winning week for the Caps this season, evidence of the consistency with which they have performed this season.  They did it by beating a good possession team in Carolina and beating a Nashville team that had just one loss in regulation in 17 games, since they lost in regulation to the Caps on February 9^th. 

The Caps enter the last dozen games of the season looking to maintain focus and build on the things that served them so well over the first 60 games of the season – balanced scoring, solid goaltending, effective special teams.  In Week 24 they will get a chance to do so against two teams in the playoff mix (Pittsburgh and St. Louis), and two other teams in their last gasps in fighting for their playoff lives (New Jersey and Ottawa).  It should be a good test.

Three Stars:

• First Star: Evgeny Kuznetsov (0-4-4, plus-3, two game-winning assists, fourth three-assist game of the season (tied for first in the league), 67.7 percent on faceoffs)
• Second Star: Daniel Winnik (2-0-2, plus-2, two goals on two shots against Nashville)
• Third Star: Braden Holtby (2-0-2, 0.99, .957)

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!! -- Game 71: Capitals at Penguins, March 20th

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!!

For the 43^rd time in the Alex Ovechkin/Sidney Crosby era, the Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins will go head-to-head in the regular season, meeting Sunday evening at Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh.  The Caps have a 19-18-5 record against the Pens, 2-1-0 this season. 

The Caps are looking to add to that win total, coming off a 4-1-1 record over their last six games.  Over those six games the Caps have rediscovered defense and goaltending, holding opponents to a single goal in each of the four wins and allowing 13 goals overall while scoring 14 of their own.

The Penguins are, if anything, hotter than the Caps, bringing a five-game winning streak into this contest.  The Penguins are doing it with defense as well, holding opponents to two or fewer goals in four of the five games in their winning streak and limiting opponents to just 21 goals over their last 12 games.

Pittsburgh has outscored their opponents, 17-9, over their five straight wins, led in goal scoring by Chris Kunitz and Sidney Crosby with three apiece.  Kunitz is enjoying a bit of good fortune after some struggles putting the puck in the net.  Before he potted three goals in the Pens’ last five games, he had gone five games without one and had only two over an 11-game stretch.  As it is, he still is not the goal-scorer he was two seasons ago when he had 35 goals in 78 games.  Over the past two seasons he has a total of 32 goals in 143 games, 15 of them coming in 69 games this season.  In 27 career games against Washington, Kunitz is 9-8-17, plus-7.

Crosby does not only have points in each of the five games of the Penguins’ current winning streak, he has points in 11 straight contests (6-12-18, plus-11).  In 33 games of the 2016 portion of the season, Crosby is 22-25-47, plus-17.  He has reasserted himself as the most dangerous offensive force in the league, and it matters to the Penguins that he maintains that position.  Pittsburgh is just 10-14-2 in 26 games in which Crosby did not record a point.  When he scores a goal, though, the Pens are 18-3-2.  He has had his struggles lately against Washington, though, and it is consistent with the change behind the Washington bench.  In seven games over two seasons against the Adam Oates-led Caps, Crosby was 4-11-15, plus-7, in seven games.  Over the last two seasons, facing a Caps team led by Barry Trotz, Crosby is 1-1-2, minus-5, in seven games.  In 36 career games against Washington, Crosby is 18-34-52, plus-2.

Marc-Andre Fleury got the win in goal in Philadelphia on Saturday, so it is uncertain if he will get the call against Washington on Sunday night.  If he does, the Caps will be facing a goalie that is having an impressive stretch run.  In his last 16 games, Fleury is 11-4-1, 1.98, .929, with one shutout.  It is one of his best seasons in one respect.  His .935 save percentage at 5-on-5 is the second-best of his career, topped only by his .939 save percentage at 5-on-5 in 2007-2008.  What he has not done this season, oddly enough, is impress at 5-on-5 on home ice.  Among 31 goalies with at least 750 minutes at 5-on-5, Fleury has a save percentage of .932, which ranks 14^th in that group (numbers from war-on-ice.com).  He is 18-11-2, 2.50, .929, with three shutouts in 32 career appearances against the Caps.

Here is how the teams compare overall:

1.  One of the persistent mysteries in the NHL is how a team with as many gifted offensive players as the Penguins has such unimpressive power play numbers.  The Penguins rank 19^th overall in power play efficiency, which is the obvious way of looking at the problem.  Another is their ability to dominate games with their power play.  They have power play goals in 33 games this season, tied for 13^th most in the league and only three fewer than the Caps.  But they have just seven multiple power play goal games, tied for 17^th in the league and six fewer than the Caps, who are tied for first with 13 such games.

2.  On the other side of the special teams coin, the Penguins are quite effective.  They rank fifth overall in penalty killing and have allowed a power play goal in just 28 games this season, tied for fourth-fewest in the league.  If the Caps can pierce the Penguins here, it would be important.  Pittsburgh has the 19^th-ranked winning percentage in the league when allowing a power play goal (.393/11-14-3).

3.  If the Penguins take a lead into the second intermission, it is the surest predictor of a Pittsburgh win.  The Penguins are the only team in the league with a perfect record when leading after 40 minutes (32-0-0).

4.  Pittsburgh has a very good scoring defense, seventh in the league overall at 2.44 goals per game.  It is their consistency by period that stands out – 57 goals allowed in the first period of games, 56 in the second, and 56 in the third.

5.  Pittsburgh has been a good, if not quite dominating possession team on home ice.  At 5-on-5 they rank ninth overall in Corsi-for (53.3 percent), eighth in score-adjusted Corsi-for (52.5 percent).  If there is something odd in their numbers, given their reputation for offensive depth, it is in the total number of events per 60 minutes on home ice.  Pittsburgh ranks 16^th in shot attempts per 60 minutes at 5-on-5 for both teams (110.0).  They are especially adept at limiting opponents’ chances, allowing the ninth fewest shot attempts per 60 minutes on home ice (51.4; numbers from war-on-ice.com).

1.  The Capitals penalty kill has been very good all season, ranking fourth in the league overall (84.1 percent).  They have been able to do this, in part, by preventing teams from piling up power play goals within games.  Only twice this season have the Caps allowed more than one power play goal in a game, fewest in the league.  It happened against Columbus in a 5-4 Gimmick loss on January 2^nd and again against Florida in a 5-2 loss on February 2^nd.

2.  The Caps appear to be in another power play slump.  After starting March with power play goals in each of their first three games to extend a streak of game with power play goals to five, they are just 2-for-17 in their last six games (11.8 percent).

3.  This is going to be a battle between teams that do not score first in games.  Only seven teams have opened the scoring fewer times than the Caps (32).  One of those teams is Pittsburgh (31).

4.  Two is the magic number for the Caps, as in goals allowed.  In games in which the Caps allow two or fewer goals they are 40-1-1, the best record in the league in such games.

5.  The Caps do a good job limiting opponents’ shooting on the road, allowing the tenth-fewest shot attempts per 60 minutes at 5-on-5 (54.1).  What they do not do is generate a lot of activity of their own, ranking 17^th in shot attempts per 60 minutes at 5-on-5 on the road (52.1; numbers from war-on-ice.com).

The Peerless’ Players to Ponder

Pittsburgh:  Kris Letang

Since the 2007-2008 season, his first full season in the NHL, Kris Letang is one of five defensemen who has appeared in at least 500 games, posted 75 or more goals, recorded 300 or more points, and is plus-40 or better.  The others in that group are Zdeno Chara, Brent Seabrook, Mike Green, and Drew Doughty.  Since missing ten weeks of the 2013-2014 season after suffering a stroke, Letang has rebuilt his game to resume his position as one of the best offensive defensemen in the game.  Last season he recorded 54 points in 69 games, the best points-per-game mark he had (0.78) since he had 0.82 points per game in the 2011-2012 season.  This season he has been even better with 53 points in 60 games, third in the league among defensemen in points per game (0.88) and the second best mark of his career, topped only by his 1.09 points per game in 35 games of the abbreviated 2012-2013 season.  He is 4-9-13, plus-6, over his last 15 games.  Against the Capitals over his career, Letang is 4-6-10, minus-14, in 25 games.

Washington: Nicklas Backstrom

Nicklas Backstrom wears the number “19” for the Capitals, but “18” has been a number featured prominently in his career.  Backstrom has 18 goals this season.  He had 18 goals last season.  He had 18 goals the season before that.  He has had 18 goals in four of his last five full season (not counting the abbreviated 2012-2013 season), and the one season he did not, in 2011-2012, he missed 40 games to injury.  Getting to 18 was a chore this season.  He went 18 games (there is that number again) without a goal after he hit 17 before he got to 18 against the Los Angeles Kings on March 9^th.  If there is an odd thing about Backstrom’s goal scoring lately it is that each of his last three goals came in Capitals losses, overtime losses to Philadelphia and the Kings, and a loss to Florida.  The last time he scored a goal in a Caps win was January 19^th in a 6-3 win over Columbus.  In 32 career games against Pittsburgh, Backstrom is 3-30-33, plus-2.

In the end…

Since Mike Sullivan took over behind the bench as head coach for the Penguins, the club is 24-14-5.  Over that same span, the Caps are 31-8-3.  In March, the Caps are 6-2-1 while the Pens are 7-3-0.  These are teams on similar trajectories, but not necessarily on similar levels.  The Penguins have done well since Evgeni Malkin left the lineup with an upper-body injury that will keep him out until late-April, winning four in a row in his absence.  But is it a team that can succeed with Sidney Crosby figuring in half of the team’s scoring (eight of 17 goals in their five-game winning streak), or will the lack of scoring diversity present a problem? 

On the other hand, the Caps are getting contributions from up and down the lineup.  It was three assists from Evgeny Kuznetsov and a pair of goals from Daniel Winnik against Nashville, Justin Williams and Alex Ovechkin getting goals in an overtime win over Carolina, three different players getting goals and six different players getting assists when the Caps erased a three-goal deficit in the third period against Los Angeles to grab a standings point.

Pittsburgh is hot, but the Caps are deeper and more consistent.  They have not lost consecutive road games in regulation since early November.  They won’t break that string in Pittsburgh.

Capitals 2 – Penguins 1

Washington Capitals Recap: A TWO-Point Night: Capitals 4 - Predators 1

When the Washington Capitals took the ice on Friday night against the Nashville Predators, they faced a team every bit as hot as they were, if not more so.  From February 13^th until the drop of the puck on Friday night the Preds were 11-1-4 to the Caps’ 10-4-1 record.  They posed a stiff test for a Capitals team that is trying to fine tune its game for the postseason.  The Caps passed that test with a 4-1 win.

After a scoreless first period, the Caps spotted the Predators a goal on a power play.  Working the puck around the top of the offensive zone, Roman Josi fed it to Filip Forsberg at the top of the right wing faceoff circle.  With Mike Ribeiro screening goalie Braden Holtby, Forsberg caught Holtby peeking around the wrong corner and fired a shot into the open side of the net to Holtby’s left for the 1-0 lead 3:30 into the second period:

Then it was time for the Caps to take advantage of a Predators penalty.  Ryan Johansen was sent off at the 5:52 mark for tripping Taylor Chorney to set the Caps up with a man advantage.  Nashville had the penalty almost killed off, but not quite.  A pair of sharp passes and a fine finish did the Predators in.  Nashville cleared the puck down the ice to get a line change as the Caps power play was winding down.  Braden Holtby skated out to the corner just outside the goal line and sent the puck up hard to Evgeny Kuznetsov at the Predators’ blue line.  Kuznetsov skated the puck slowly in and from the right wing circle wound up as if for a slap shot.  However, a passing lane opened up between the Preds’ Shea Weber and Colton Sissons, and Kuznetsov sent a slap pass through the middle of the ice to Daniel Winnik darting in on the left side. Winnik took the pass in stride and snapped a shot high into the net behind goalie Carter Hutton, who bit on the Kuznetsov fake and was defending the shot that never came.

Less than five minute later, the Caps had the lead for good.  Caps fans have seen it before; the Predators, perhaps not.  With the teams battling for the puck in the Olympia corner, Kuznetsov beat Petter Granberg to it when it squirted out from a clot of players.  Kuznetsov circled behind the net, but he did not come out the other side with the biscuit.  From behind the cage he backhanded a pass behind him and out to T.J. Oshie, who wristed it into the cage as Hutton was leaning the other way to defend the puckcarrier who never came.  It was 2-1 at the 12:22 mark.

Just as the second period was winding down, Winnik scored his second of the game.  It started with Dmitry Orlov grabbing a loose puck and starting up ice from inside his own blue line.  Getting up a head of steam through the neutral zone, Orlov backed off the defense, and as he reached the Nashville blue line he slid the puck off to his left to Winnik filling in on that side.  Winnik took a couple of steps up, and from the top of the left wing circle he snapped a shot that handcuffed Hutton and sailed into the far top corner of the net to make it 3-1 with just 18 seconds left in the period.

If the Predators had any designs on making this a competitive game once more, the Caps erased them in the first minute of the third period.  The play started with Kuznetsov skating the puck down the right side into the Nashville zone.  The puck slid off his stick, but Kuznetsov worked his way around Ryan Johansen to regain possession.  From the right wing corner he, and perhaps he alone, spied Andre Burakovsky arriving in the low slot.  Kuznetsov got the puck to him smartly, and Burakovsky had time to pick a corner.  He chose wisely, snapping the puck over Hutton’s glove into the top corner for the final tally in the 4-1 Capitals win.

Other stuff…

-- Daniel Winnik recorded his first two goals as a Capital and did it in most efficient fashion, doing it with the only two shots on goal he recorded for the game.  Winnik became the 23^rd Capital to record a goal this season.  Last year’s club had 21 different players record goals.

-- Evgeny Kuznetsov had three assists, the fourth time this season he recorded three or more assists.  He is tied with Ottawa’s Erik Karlsson for most games recording three or more assists.

-- All of Kuznetsov’s assists were primary assists, giving him 41 such helpers this season, tops in the league, six more than Chicago’s Patrick Kane.

-- This was the 12^th time this season that the Caps had five or more power play opportunities (they had five in this game).  They are 8-3-1 overall in such games and 2-2-0 when they fail to record a goal, as they did in this game.

-- Back to Kuznetsov.  It is amazing how a player can dictate the outcome without taking so much as a single shot attempt.  In fact, Kuznetsov’s score sheet is quite clean.  Three assists, plus-3, and he won 13 of 18 draws (72.2 percent).  That’s it. No shot attempts, no hits, no takeaways, no blocked shots.  Just passes for layups and faceoff wins.

-- Dmitry Orlov was a plus-4, making him one of ten players this season with two games of plus-4 or better (Kuznetsov is another).  The other was in a 4-3 win over the New Jersey Devils on February 20^th.

-- T.J. Oshie set a personal career best with his 22^nd goal of the season.  He had 21 for the St. Louis Blues in 2013-2014.

-- When Andre Burakovsky scored in the third period, it was his 15^th goal of the season, giving the Caps eight players with 15 or more goals, tying the 2009-2010 team for most players with 15 or more goals since the 2004-205 lockout.

-- Braden Holtby seems to be working himself back into “2015 Holtby.”  This was the third time in four games that he allowed a single goal.  Over those four games he has a goals against average of 1.68 and a save percentage of .933.  Compare that to his numbers in the 2015 portion of this season: 1.86, .934.

-- There were considerable score effects in the possession numbers, the Caps going into defensive mode after taking the 4-1 lead in the third period.  At 5-on-5 the Predators won the shot attempts battle, 24-6, and they had more shots on goal, 9-3.  But over the first two periods, the Caps were the better team.  Over the first 40 minutes the Caps enjoyed a 34-27 edge in shot attempts at 5-on-5 and a shots advantage of 21-9 (numbers from war-on-ice.com). 

In the end…

This is now the second-winningest team in Caps history, the 2009-2010 team with 54 wins the only team standing in their way of the top spot.  This was a game that was a little more reminiscent of the games the Caps played over the first 50 games of the season where they systematically wore down an opponent with depth and skill.  Even with Nashville getting the first goal, on a power play, one did not have the feeling that the Predators were the better team.   The best sign here might be that the Caps recorded their first win by more than one goal in more than a month (3-1 over Los Angeles on February 16^th) and their first win by multiple goals that did not involve an empty netter supplying the more-than-one-goal margin since they beat Columbus, 6-3, on January 19^th.  It comes just in time as the Caps head out onto a three-game road trip, starting with a nationally-televised game in Pittsburgh on Sunday evening.

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!! -- Game 70: Predators at Capitals, March 18th

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!!

The Washington Capitals will wrap up their short two-game home stand on Friday night when the Nashville Predators come to town.  The Caps stopped a two-game winless streak from becoming three when they beat the Carolina Hurricanes, 2-1, in overtime on Tuesday night.  Nashville, which lost to Washington in Tennessee back on February 9th, 5-3, has been a very good team since, going 10-1-4 in 15 games since that meeting.

The Predators do come into this game without everything being unicorns and accordions, though.  Going into Thursday night’s game against the New York Islanders (their first at home after a five-game road trip), they are 1-1-1 over their last three contests and will be coming to Washington to play the second half of a back-to-back set of games.

Scoring has become a bit of a problem for the Predators in recent games, posting just seven goals in their last three – their swing through the three western Canada cities of Calgary, Vancouver, and Edmonton – after averaging almost 3.4 goals per game in 12 games after facing the Caps last month.  Neither of their top-two forwards in total points – Filip Forsberg and Mike Ribeiro – had a point in any of those last three games.

Despite the three-game slump, Forsberg is on roughly the points-producing pace (61) that he had last season (63).  This year, he is doing it with more emphasis on goal scoring.  He has 28 goals through 70 games this season, a career best after posting 26 goals in 82 games last year.  Part of that was a February that left third-degree burns on the rest of the league when he recorded 12 goals in 13 games for the month.  What he has not done lately, though, is score goals on the road.  Since he recorded a hat trick in Toronto against the Maple Leafs on February 23rd, he has one goal in his last six road contests.  And, in this three-game mini-slump, he has more penalty minutes (nine) than shots on goal (six).  In three career games against the team that drafted him, Forsberg is 3-2-5, plus-2.

When we penned our prognosto back on February 8th before the last meeting of these clubs, we said of Ribeiro…

“With six goals in 53 games he is on a pace to finish with fewer than ten goals over a season for the first time since 2002-2003, when he had five goals in 52 games for the Montreal Canadiens.  He is averaging less than a shot on goal per game for the first time since he had no shots in two games with the Canadiens in 2000-2001.”

It has not gotten any better.  Since then, Ribeiro has one goal in 16 games on 17 shots. In five of his last ten games he did not record a shot on goal and only once recorded more than one (three against Calgary on March 9th).  He does have 13 assists in the 16 games since facing the Caps, so he is managing to contribute in other areas in the offensive end of the ice.  And, it seems to matter.  When Ribeiro records at least one assist, the Predators are 22-6-4, while they are 13-16-9 when he does not.  Ribeiro is 2-9-11, plus-2, in 23 career games against the Caps.

Pekka Rinne spent the first half of the regular season playing goal in a very un-Rinne-esque fashion.  In his first 46 appearances he was 20-18-8, 2.57, .902, with two shutouts.  However, over his last 11 appearances he has been the Rinne who was a Vezina Trophy finalist in consecutive seasons at the start of this decade.  He is 8-1-2, 1.89, .939, with two shutouts over those 11 appearances.  The question will be whether he will get the call for both ends of the back-to-back set of games the Predators will play against the New York Islanders on Thursday night and against the Capitals on Friday.  It would not be surprising.  Rinne went into Thursday’s game tied for the league lead in appearances among goaltenders (57), games started (57), and he led outright in minutes played (3,422).  It might be worth noting that he did play in one set of back-to-back games this season, dropping both ends of the set – at Columbus (on November 20th) and at Minnesota (on November 21st) – allowing seven goals on 44 shots.  Nashville was shutout in both games by identical 4-0 scores.  In three career appearances against the Caps, Rinne is 2-1-0, 2.68, .911.

1.  Odd fact about Mike Ribeiro and his goal scoring.  In six of the seven games in which he recorded a goal this season, he also had an assist, 1-1-2 in each of those six games.

2.  Odd fact about Rinne and his shots faced.  In six games this season, all of which he started and finished, he faced fewer than 20 shots on goal.  He lost five of those games and had a save percentage of just .816 in those six games.

3.  Nashville is second in the league in fewest shots on goal allowed per game (27.3).  Only two teams have allowed 20 or fewer shots in a game more times than the eight times the Predators have done so (Carolina and Montreal, both with nine occasions).  Odd thing, the Preds are just 3-5-0 in those games.

4.  Only five teams have allowed fewer first period goals than Nashville (44), but no team has allowed more overtime goals than the Predators (12).

5.  Nashville has the fifth-best Corsi-for at 5-on-5 overall in the league (52.4 percent) and the fourth-best score adjusted Corsi-for (52.8 percent). They are not quite as good on the road, ranked eighth in overall Corsi-for (51.2 percent) and ranked sixth in score adjusted Corsi-for (52.4 percent; numbers from war-on-ice.com).

1.  When Alex Ovechkin scored I overtime to secure the 2-1 win over Carolina on Tuesday, it made the Caps 30-5-0 in games in which he scored at least one goal this season.  They are 20-9-5 when he doesn’t, which is still a 108-point pace.  It’s a deep team.

2.  Only one team this season has had fewer games with 20 or fewer shots on goal than the Capitals, who have two such games (and won both). Care to guess who?  We’ll wait…

…the Toronto Maple Leafs (1).

3.  On the other hand, only three teams have fewer games with 40 or more shots on goal than the Caps, who have done it three times – Arizona, Calgary, and Tampa Bay with two apiece.  Oh, and the Caps won all three of their games, too.

4.  The Caps are a plus-33 in third-period goal differential.  That is better than the total goal differential of 28 teams, and Los Angeles is a plus-34.

5.  Washington has allowed the second highest number of shot attempts per 60 minutes on home ice (58.6).  Only Colorado has allowed more (61.3; numbers from war-on-ice.com).

The Peerless’ Players to Ponder

Nashville: Roman Josi

In his five seasons in the NHL, Roman Josi is one of 12 defensemen to play in at least 300 games, record 40 or more goals, and post 120 or more assists.  The list reads like a who’s who of NHL defensemen with the likes of Drew Doughty, Erik Karlsson, Kiklas Kronwall, Mark Giordano, Kevin Shattenkirk, teammate Shea Weber, and Washington’s John Carlson on it.  He is on a pace this season to finish with 13 goals, which would challenge his career best (15) set last year in 81 games.  He seems quite likely to break his personal best in assists (40) set last year (he has 38 in 70 games) and points (55), also set last season (he is on a pace to finish with 57).  What he has not done lately from the blue line is score goals.  He has just one in his last 25 games and none in his last 16 contests.  Josi is 2-1-3, minus-2, in six career games against the Caps.

Washington: Daniel Winnik

Having arrived from Toronto in the Brooks Laich deal at the trading deadline, Daniel Winnik has seven games under his belt with the Caps.  He has toiled in relative obscurity on the fourth line, not making a big impression in the top-end statistics – no goals, no assists, no points, even in six of his seven games (plus-1 in the other), averaging exactly one shot on goal per game, getting a shade over 13 minutes of ice time a night.  But in 91 minutes and change of ice time, Winnik has been on ice for only two goals against.  Being a fourth liner, he is not likely to see much in the way of productive offensive talent across the ice from himself.  But still, the goals that the other team does not get is a contribution, too, whatever his numbers in the offensive end.  If he is going to break through on the score sheet it might be against the Predators.  Winnik is 5-4-9, plus-2, in 25 career games against Nashville.

In the end…

The Caps are getting to that point in the season where they are fine tuning the details of their game so that they can be productive and effective when the post season starts in less than four weeks.  This will be a good game as part of that process, facing a team that is solid in offense and defense, and with very good goaltending.  Nashville is certainly representative of the talent the Caps will face in the postseason, and it is getting time to demonstrate that they can flourish against such teams.

Capitals 3 – Predators 2

Washington Capitals Recap: A TWO-Point Night: Capitals 2 - Hurricanes 1 (OT)

The Washington Capitals became the first team in the NHL to clinch a playoff berth this season when they defeated the Carolina Hurricanes, 2-1, in overtime last night at Verizon Center. 

The teams played to a scoreless first period, but less than two minutes into the second period the Caps broke in front.  Jason Chimera circled the puck out and around the top of the right wing faceoff circle and fired a shot at the Carolina net that was kicked out by goalie Eddie Lack.  Defenseman Michal Jordan swatted the rebound into the left wing corner, but Chimera, who had circled all the way over to the other side of the ice, collected the loose puck.  He sent it to the top of the crease where Justin Williams had inside position on Nathan Gerbe.  Williams had only to get the blade of his stick on the puck to flick it past Lack to give the Caps a 1-0 lead 90 seconds into the period.

Carolina tied it mid-way through the period on a feat of strength by Jordan Staal.  Carrying the puck through the right wing faceoff circle while wearing Jay Beagle like a fur stole about his shoulders, he still managed to get off a shot on goalie Braden Holtby.  His initial shot was stalled in front, but Dmitry Orlov’s attempt to clear it was a whiff.  It allowed Staal to follow up his own shot and from the edge of the left wing circle he was true on his second attempt, snapping the puck past Holtby’s left shoulder at the 10:50 mark of the period.

That would be the extent of the scoring in regulation.  Overtime was another matter.  It was a matter of two players playing their primary roles.  Alex Ovechkin started the last sequence by fighting off Brett Pesce in the Olympia corner and sliding the puck to Evgeny Kuznetsov behind the Carolina net, then crossing in front of him to take up station in front of Lack.  Kuznetsov held the puck for an instant, then floated a saucer pass over the stick of defenseman Noah Hanafin and out to Ovechkin backing into the right wing circle.  Ovechkin one-timed the puck under Lack’s right arm and into the back of the net, giving the Caps the 2-1 win and the first postseason clinch in the league this season.

Other stuff…

-- The Caps got a gift.  The game-winning scoring play originated when Evgeny Kuznetsov carried the puck into the Carolina zone…or did he?  As Kuznetsov approached the Carolina blue line, it was clear he had possession of the puck, but the puck must enter the zone before the player.  You be the judge…was Kuznetsov in clear possession of the puck, or was he offsides?

(screen capture from CSN feed)

-- With the win, this edition of the Capitals became the fourth 50-win team in franchise history, joining the 1985-1986 team (50 wins), the 2008-2009 team (50), and the 2009-2010 team (54).

-- Alex Ovechkin’s goal snapped a five-game streak without one, his longest drought of the season.  His 517^th career goal leaves him one behind Dale Hawerchuk for 35^th place in NHL history.

-- The Jay Beagle Experiment had mixed results.  Playing top-line minutes (only Alex Ovechkin had more even strength ice time among forwards), Beagle had just one shot attempt (a miss), two takeaways, and he won the only faceoff he took.  And, he was outmuscled for position by Jordan Staal on the Hurricanes’ lone goal.

-- Hey, did we call it?  We noted in the prognosto that Justin Williams might be ramping up for a strong stretch run with points in his previous three games.  Well, make it four and goals in his last two with his goal on Tuesday night. 

-- This was the fifth game this season in which the Caps and their opponent combined for three or fewer power play opportunities (Carolina had two, the Caps had one) and the second time the Caps did it against the Hurricanes.  The teams combined for three power play chances on New Year’s Eve (Carolina getting all of them).  Tuesday night was the Caps’ first win this season in such a situation since they defeated the Chicago Blackhawks, 4-1, back on October 15th.

-- Jason Chimera is not generally known for a high volume of assists, but he did break a ten-game streak without a helper when he assisted on Justin Williams’ goal.

-- Evgeny Kuznetsov became the 16^th player in Capitals history to record 50 or more assists in at least one season.  He is the first not named Nicklas Backstrom or Alex Ovechkin to do it since Mike Green had 57 assists in the 2009-2010 season.

-- Braden Holtby was solid in goal for the Caps.  But for a singularly noble effort by Jordan Staal (or a little more support from Dmitry Orlov clearing a puck in front of him), he might have had a shutout in this one.  In his last three games he is more Holtbeastly 2-0-1, 1.90, .929.

-- It was a low-volume of events sort of game, the teams combining for just 104 shot attempts for the game and only 92 at 5-on-5.  The Caps won that battle, 51-41 and are 52.6 percent Corsi-for at 5-on-5 over their last three games.

In the end…

No, it wasn’t pretty.  Maybe that was to be expected, what with the forward lines a bit of a fruit salad.  But it was a win like a lot of others this season, finding a way to squeeze out a one-goal margin.  And make no mistake, the Caps were playing a team that is still fighting to stay in playoff contention; they were no pushover.  What they did on Tuesday that they haven’t done much of lately was hold a team without a first period goal and then getting the game’s first goal for themselves.  That’s the sort of thing folks need to see more often, so in that respect consider this game a success.  Oh yeah, and for the win, too.

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!! -- Game 69: Hurricanes at Capitals, March 15th

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!!

The Washington Capitals are back home after a four-game, eight-day, 3389-mile road trip, once more in the embrace of the friendly confines of Verizon Center where they host the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday night in what used to be a critical Southeast Division matchup.  The divisions might have changed, but the stakes have not.  The Capitals are trying to get past a rough stretch of road that left them with a 5-4-1 record in their last ten games (2-1-1 on the four-game road trip).  The Hurricanes are in even tougher straits, fighting for their playoff lives as they embark on their last 13 regular season games of the season.

Carolina sits in sixth place in the Metropolitan Division, five points out of a wild-card playoff berth with two teams – the Philadelphia Flyers and the Detroit Red Wings – to climb over.  And, they have played the same number of games as Detroit (69), while the Flyers hold two games in hand (67 games played). 

The Hurricanes come into this game with points in each of their last five games (3-0-2) , and they are in the midst of a recent stretch of games heavily weighted to the road side of the ledger.  They opened March with a pair of road games, a win in New Jersey and an overtime loss in Tampa before beating Ottawa at home in the Gimmick.  They took to the road again and won in overtime against Boston before dropping an overtime decision in Buffalo last Saturday night.  Their visit to Washington is the third game in a five-game road trip, games in Pittsburgh and Minnesota coming after Carolina visits the Caps.

Carolina played those last five games as close as can be.  The first of them, a 3-1 win over the New Jersey Devils, featured an empty net goal in the last half minute of play in what was a one-goal game.  Each of their last four contests have gone to extra time, the Hurricanes splitting the four decisions with their opponents.  Overall they outscored their opponents, 14-13.  And, their special teams have been effective, the power play going 4-for-13 (30.8 percent), while the penalty killers went 12-for-13 (92.3 percent).

Jeff Skinner has a hand in almost half the Hurricanes’ goals over the last five games, posting three goals and three assists.  Skinner has points in each of his last four games and in five of his last six (4-4-8).  Skinner has bounced back nicely from a disappointing 2014-2015 season in which he had career lows for a full season in goals (18), assists (13), points (31), and plus-minus (minus-24).  His 25 goals leads the team, as does his 43 points.  Skinner is 10-11-21, minus-2 in 28 career games against the Capitals.

Phil DiGiuseppe has had a nice run of his own of late.  He is second in scoring among the Hurricanes over their last five games (2-3-5), part of what is a solid rookie season.   He is 16^th among rookie forwards in total scoring (6-10-16) despite playing in about half of the games (36) of every player ahead of him except Edmonton’s uber-rookie, Connor McDavid (14-21-35 in 34 games).  He is already among the top dozen rookies in franchise history in points since the Hurricanes established themselves in Carolina in 1997.  DiGiuseppe has a goal in two career games against the Caps.

We might be coming to the end of the Cam Ward era in goal for the Hurricanes.  Ward will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season, and after 11 seasons for the only team he ever played for, he might be moving on.  Ward is the Hurricanes’ version of the Capitals’ long-time netminder Olaf Kolzig, a player who had success when called upon to assume the number one netminding duties (Kolzig went to the Stanley Cup finals in his first year as full-time starter, Ward won a Stanley Cup in his first postseason) but who had to fight through some tougher times in the later stages of his tenure.  Of 44 goaltenders to play for the Hartford Whalers/Carolina Hurricanes franchise, Ward ranks first in games (557), wins (260), losses (206), shots faced (15,884), and minutes played (31,929).  Among goalies appearing in at least 50 games for the franchise, Ward ranks fifth in goals against average (2.70) and fourth in save percentage (.909).  He has had a rough go of it lately, going 3-4-1, 2.86, .897 in his last eight appearances, although he does have two wins and an extra time loss in his last three appearances.  Ward is 16-15-4, 2.63, .917, with four shutouts in 36 career appearances against Washington.

Here is how the teams compare overall:

1.  No team has spent fewer situations shorthanded on the road than the Hurricanes (89).

2.  Getting and keeping early leads has been an issue for Carolina.  The Hurricanes rank 20^th in winning percentage in games in which they score first (.657/23-5-7), and they rank 27^th in games in winning percentage in which they take a lead into the first intermission (.619/13-3-5).

3.  Carolina leads the league in credited takeaways (636) and has the best takeaway-to-giveaway ratio in the league (1.13:1).

4.  The Hurricanes are just one of four teams without a player to have reached the 45-point mark for the season.  Columbus, Toronto, and Detroit are the others.

5.  If the Caps think getting off their habit of slow starts will be easy against what amounts to a non-playoff team, hold off on that.  Carolina has the third best Corsi-for at 5-on-5 overall in the league in road games (51.6 percent).  The Hurricanes’ problem is that their possession numbers have out-performed their production; they are a minus-13 in goal differential at 5-n-5 on the road, tied for 23^rd in the league (numbers from war-on-ice.com).

1.  The Capitals’ power play is nothing if not consistent.  At home it is 26-for-107 (24.3 percent), while on the road it is 25-for-107 (23.4 percent).

2.  Washington’s penalty kill is just as consistent, just in another way.  While the power play has had equal numbers of opportunities, home and road, the penalty killers have allowed equal numbers of goals, home and road.  They have allowed 34 goals in 101 shorthanded situations at home (86.1 percent kill rate), 34 goals in 114 shorthanded situations on the road (82.5 percent).

3.  The Caps already have more 20-goal scorers this season (four) than they had last season (three).  Alex Ovechkin (41), T.J. Oshie (21), Evgeny Kuznetsov (20), and Justin Williams (20) are already there, and three more players have a reasonable shot at it – Nicklas Backstrom (18), Jason Chimera (17), and Marcus Johansson (15).  If all of them make it, this year’s team would tie the 2009-2010 team in the number of 20-goal scorers it had in the post-2004-2005 lockout era (seven).

4.  The Caps have 45 regulation and overtime wins this season.  They have 17 different players with game-winning goals.  Only the St. Louis Blues have as many players with game-winning goals this season.

5.  If suppressing opponent’s possession opportunities has meaning, the Caps have some shoring up to do at home.  Washington has allowed the eighth-most shot attempts per 60 minutes on home ice this season (55.1), by rounding just ahead of Edmonton (numbers from war-on-ice.com).

The Peerless’ Players to Ponder

Carolina: Jordan Staal

With the balance of power among the Brothers Staal having shifted to New York at the trading dealine with Eric joining brother Marc in a trade from the Hurricanes, Jordan is the last remaining Staal in Carolina.  Jordan is under contract with the Hurricanes through the 2022-2013 season, which could mean that a Staal will have worn the red, black, and white of the franchise for 19 straight seasons (and no, that would not be close to the record for consecutive seasons for a brother act with one franchise; the Richards – Maurice and Henri – represented the Montreal Canadiens for 33 consecutive seasons).  Now in his fourth season in Carolina, Jordan has already tied his total points best for a season (40, set in 2013-2014) and has posted his best goal-scoring total (17).  The odd part of it is that he has had progressively lower average ice times over his four years in Carolina, averaging 20:06 in his first season, down to 18:03 going into Tuesday’s game.  He has been getting more time lately, topping the 20 minute mark in five of his last eight games, but he has just one point (a goal) to show for it.  Staal is 7-4-11, minus-5, in 36 career games against Washington.

Washington: Justin Williams

On a very deep team, Justin Williams has quietly put together a rather impressive season.  His 20 goals is the first time he reached that plateau since he had 22 with the Los Angeles Kings in 2011-2012 (for what it’s worth, the Kings won the Stanley Cup that season).  His 27 assists and 47 points are also personal highs since that 2011-2012 season.  His plus-19 is already a career best, topping the plus-15 he had in 2012-2013 with the Kings.  And, he might be ramping up for a strong stretch run.  He has points in his last three games, and his goal against San Jose on Saturday broke an 11-game streak of games without a goal.  His six shots on goal against the Sharks was a season high.  Williams is 4-8-12, minus-2, in 21 career games against the team than once employed his services.

In the end…

Washington is down to seven home games remaining in the season.  With 26 wins at home in 34 games they are within striking distance of the franchise record for home wins in a season (30, achieved in 1985-1986 and in 2009-2010).  They have been able to achieve their enviable home record by doing what they have done over all their games this season, avoiding consecutive losses in regulation time.  They lost their last game at home, a 3-2 loss to the New York Rangers, so this game represents an opportunity to avoid both consecutive losses in regulation at home and overall for the season.   There is also the matter of the Caps having lost – in regulation – to the Hurricanes in their last meeting back on New Year’s Eve. 

So think of this as an opportunity on several levels for the Caps to reassert themselves as a team that dominates in the win column and avoids losing streaks.   If the team doesn’t need such affirmation, it would make the rest of Capitals Nation happy.

Capitals 4 – Hurricanes 2