Washington Capitals: 2017-2018 By the Tens -- Forwards: Evgeny Kuznetsov

Evgeny Kuznetsov

“Ambition is the path to success. Persistence is the vehicle you arrive in.”

-- Bill Bradley

Evgeny Kuznetsov has spent a good part of his career a bit behind himself, trying to catch up with his considerable talent.  It started with the 2010 NHL entry draft.  Going into the draft, Kuznetsov was the third-ranked European skater according to Central Scouting, behind Mikael Granlund and Vladimir Tarasenko.  However, he slipped to 26^th in the first round, taken by the Washington Capitals.  Then there was the matter of coming to North America after that draft.  Kuznetsov would play four more seasons with Chelyabinsk Traktor in the KHL before he came across to North America at the end of the 2013-2014 season as a 21-year old.  He appeared in 17 games at the end of that season, offering the occasional glimpse into his offensive repertoire, finishing 3-6-9.

His next three seasons were a jumble of inconsistencies.  He showed improvement in the regular season in the two full seasons following his brief first-taste of the NHL, increasing his goals to 11, and then to 20 the following year, and increasing his points to 37 in his first full season, and then to 77 the year after that.  His postseasons did not measure up, though.  He did have five goals in 14 games in his first postseason appearance in 2015, but he had only one goal and two points in 12 games in the 2016 postseason.  In 2016-2017, he took a step back in his regular season numbers, posting 19 goals and 57 points, a 20-point drop from the previous season.  But he did offer a look at coming attractions when he went 5-5-10 in 13 games of the 2017 playoffs.

In 2017-2018, it all came together for Kuznetsov.  It started with time on ice.  Kuznetsov averaged 18:49 per game, more than a minute more than his previous high (17:25 per game in 2016-2017).  He skated an average of 15:18 per game at even strength, a number topped only by Alex Ovechkin among forwards (15:55).  He assumed the top line center duties as the pivot on the Ovechkin line. 

And his performance numbers reflect the added responsibility.  His 27 goals were a career high and second-most on the team.  His 56 assists were one short of his career best (57 in 2015-2016) and were tied with Evgeni Malkin for 14^th in the league.  He finished with 83 points, a career-best and 19^th in the league, right between John Tavares (84) and Artemi Panarin (82).  Kuznetsov had a career-high seven power play goals, a career-best 23 power play assists (tied for 14^th in the league), a career-best 30 power play points.

With respect to his “tens,” Kuznetsov started and ended strong.  He had an amazing 12 assists in his first ten games, corresponding to the fast goal-scoring start his linemate Alex Ovechkin had.  He eased off a bit over his next two segments, Points-wise, even as his goal totals ramped up.  The point totals dropped a bit in the mid-season portion of the schedule, but he closed with a rush.  Kuznetsov had 14 points in each of his last two segments, made even more amazing in that he missed three games in this last stretch of the season.  The 28 points in 19 games was a 121-point pace over a full season.

Fearless’ Take… It might not sound like much, but Kuznetsov is just the 14^th player in Caps history to record two or more seasons with more than 75 points, and he is just one of four with two or more such seasons since the 2004-2005 lockout (Alex Ovechkin (9), Nicklas Backstrom (5), and Alexander Semin (2) being the others).  What makes Kuznetsov’s accomplishment stand out is his having done it in only four full seasons.  Already, he ranks 26^th in franchise history in assists (185), and he needs just 27 more to jump into the top 20.  Among players appearing in at least 100 games for the franchise, he is 11^th in assists per game (0.54), but it would not take a big jump in output next season to pass Bengt-Ake Gustafsson (0.57 per game) for sixth place.  Kuznetsov would still appear to have growing room in his career development arc.

Cheerless’ Take… Over the last four seasons, 217 players have taken at least 1,000 faceoffs.  Kuznetsov is 204^th in winning percentage overall (44.2), 206^th in even strength faceoff winning percentage (44.4 percent), 211^th in power play faceoff winning percentage (41.4 percent).  And Kuznetsov slid some in his possession numbers.  His even strength Corsi-for at even strength of 48.6 percent was almost four points lower than in 2016-2017 (52.2 percent), and his Corsi-relative at evens dropped from plus-1.2 (itself a drop from plus-3.3 in 2015-2016) to plus-0.5 in 2017-2018.  His takeaway-to-giveaway ratio also slipped, from 0.73 in 2016-2017 to 0.67 this season.  Creativity seems to come with a measure of risk with Kuznetsov.

Odd Kuznetsov Fact… Blocking shots really isn’t Kuznetsov’s thing, but when he did get in the way of shots, it was generally part of a happy evening.  The Caps were 17-2-2 in the 21 games in which he blocked a shot.  As far as the grittership goes, there are limits, though.  Washington was just 6-6-1 in games in which he had at least two credited hits.

Game to Remember… October 7^th vs. Montreal

There might have been no other game Evgeny Kuznetsov has played for the Capitals stranger than the one he played in the home opener of the 2017-2018 season.  It was a night largely remembered for the four goals Alex Ovechkin recorded against the Montreal Canadiens, coming on the heels of his hat trick in the season opener in Ottawa two days earlier against the Senators.  But for every goal, or for most of them, anyway, there is someone setting them up.  And there was Kuznetsov serving up pucks faster than a bartender schlepping drinks at happy hour.

It started just 20 seconds into the game.  Kuznetsov gathered a loose puck along the right wing wall and flung it to the middle, where Jakub Vrana redirected it to Ovechkin cutting across behind him.  Ovechkin spun and sent a shot that sailed over goalie Carey Price’s glove to give the Caps the early lead.  After T.J. Oshie scored just 26 seconds later, the Caps found themselves on a power play.  Kuznetsov found Ovechkin when he walked in at the right wing circle to lure the defense to him, and with a passing lane created found Ovechkin on a cross-ice pass for a one-timer to make it 3-0 just 2:51 into the game.

Late in the period, Kuznetsov took a pass from Aaron Ness at the top of the left wing circle and fired a shot ticketed for the short side of the net to Price’s right.  Ovechkin got the blade of his stick on the puck as it was heading through and redirected it under Price’s blocker to make it 4-0 with 1:50 left in the period.  Late in the second period, with Al Montoya in the Montreal net in relief of Price, Kuznetsov and Ovechkin worked a give-and-go.  Ovechkin left the puck for Kuznetsov curling into the right wing circle.  Kuznetsov returned it to Ovechkin cutting toward the net from the goal line extended to Montoya’s left.  Ovechkin stepped through the top of the crease and backhanded a shot that trickled under Montoya and in to make it a 5-1 game 16:46 into the period. 

In a game that the Caps went on to win, 6-1, Kuznetsov had his fifth four-point game as a Capital, his second four-assist game.  What made it strange wasn’t that he did it with just 17:28 in total ice time or that he had his four assists before the second period was over.  What made it strange was that he did it without recording so much as a single shot attempt.  Call it a "Kuznetstrick."

Game to Forget… October 14^th at Philadelphia

No one who paid the price of a ticket got a better view of the carnage the Philadelphia Flyers rained on the Capitals in an 8-2 pasting on October 14^th than Evgeny Kuznetsov. The Caps were in Philadelphia trying to improve on a 3-1-1 start to the season, but in doing so they had a bit of difficulty keeping pucks out of their own net, allowing three or more goals in three of the five games played to that point.

That problem expressed itself early for the Caps, who fell behind by a 2-1 margin in the first period.  Kuznetsov was on ice for both goals, one of them a shorthanded goal with 62 seconds left in the period.  He would be left stranded at the Philadelphia blue line as the other four Caps were running around in their own end trying to keep Scott Laughton from gathering a puck goalie Philpp Grubauer came out from his crease to poke away that Laughton deposited into the vacated net.

After Nicklas Backstrom scored a goal mid-way through the second period to get the Caps back to a 4-2 deficit, Kuznetsov looked on from up close when Valteri Filppula scored late in the period to make it a 5-2 game at the second intermission.  He was on the ice when Laughton got his second of the game eight minutes into the third period.  He was on the ice when Claude Giroux closed the scoring with under five minutes left, making it five goals for which Kuznetsov would have an on-ice view in what was an 8-2 Flyers win, the Caps’ worst of the season.  In addition to the five goals-against for which he was on ice, Kuznetsov did get an assist, on a goal by Jakub Vrana in the first period, but he had only one shot attempt (shot on goal), two giveaways, and lost eight of 12 draws.  Yeah, you can safely forget that one.

Postseason…

Evgeny Kuznetsov became the 21^st player in NHL history to record 30 or more points in a postseason when he posted 32 in 24 games to lead the league in playoff scoring.  It was only the fifth instance since 2006 that a player finished a postseason with 30 or more points and only the second since 2010 (Logan Couture had 30 points in 2016 for San Jose).  Kuznetsov’s 12 goals was more than his career postseason total (11) in 39 playoff games before this season.  His 20 assists more than doubled his career postseason total before this year (eight).

What was noteworthy about his 2018 postseason performance was its consistency.  He had points in 19 of the 24 games in which he played, held off the score sheet only once in his last 15 games.  The consistency did not keep him from scoring points in bunches.  He had seven multi-point games in the postseason, tied for third (with Nicklas Backstrom and Sidney Crosby) for third-most in the league, behind Alex Ovechkin (eight) and Mark Scheifele (nine).  And, no player had more games with three or more points than Kuznetsov (four), including a pair of four-point games.

And of course, there was this, which put him in a special place in the hearts of Caps fans young and old…

All told, it was a body of work that earned Kuznetsov serious consideration for the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player of the postseason.  He finished with five of 18 first-place votes and 13 of 18 second-place votes.

In the end…

This is the Evgeny Kuznetsov that Caps fans have been waiting for since he was drafted in 2010.  There are better playmakers, there are more prolific goal scorers, and there are faster and perhaps niftier skaters.  But there are not all that many in any of those categories.  He is as complete an offensive force as there is in the league, combining a creative playmaking touch with a growing assertiveness in putting pucks on net.  Kunzetsov was not just hot to end the season, he was scalding, third-degree burn hot.  Over his last 59 games, including the postseason, he was 26-49-75, plus-17.  That is a 36-68-104, plus-24 pace over 82 games.  Consider in that context that 43 of those 59 games were played against playoff teams.  He didn’t do it facing a bunch of palookas.

It took almost eight years.  Eight years of patience by the Caps organization and their fans, eight years of persistence by the player, but in 2018, Evgeny Kuznetsov arrived.

Washington Capitals: 2017-2018 By the Tens -- Forwards: Lars Eller

Lars Eller

“You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment.”

-- Henry David Thoreau

If one looked at the career statistics of Lars Eller coming into this season with the Washington Capitals, one might conclude that he was a pretty good third line player, or even a serviceable second line player.  In eight seasons, he averaged 13-15-28 per 82 games and scored the gamut of special teams points, power play and shorthanded goals and assists.  But still, when one sees that he was the 13^th overall pick of the 2007 draft, taken between defensemen Ryan McDonagh and Kevin Shattenkirk, one might have wondered if Eller had achieved all such a draft pick should have achieved.  He was a reliable low-teens goal scorer and upper 20’s point producer, but he never scored more than 16 goals in a season, never recorded more than 30 points.

And then there was the 2017-2018 season.  Eller’s first season in Washington, in 2016-2017, was productive to a point, his numbers scoring (12-13-25) being slightly under his career per-82 game pace.  But in his first 53 games, through February 9^th, he was already 11-17-28 and matched his best season power play point production with two goals and three assists (he was 1-4-5 on the power play with Montreal in 2012-2013).  The date in important because on February 10^th, he signed a five-year/$17.5 million extension with the Caps. 

The new contract could have been interpreted as a bargain in service to stability at the third line center position, since it compensates Eller at the same average annual value ($3.5 million) as the contract that expires with the end of the 2017-2018 season.  It looked like even more of a bargain when Eller posted seven goals and ten points in his last 28 games of the regular season.

Looking at his ten-game segments, the one thing that stands out is how his season cleaves into two halves as far as goal scoring goes.  He had just five goals in his first four ten-game segments, but he closed with 13 in his last four segments.  That second half of the season included ten even strength goals, doubling his first half total, and all three of his power play goals for the season.  He was significantly more efficient in his shooting as well, with a 15.1 percent shooting percentage over his last four segments, compared to the 6.7 percent he recorded in the first four segments.

Fearless’ Take… Eller shattered his career offensive numbers posting a career high in goals with 18 (he had 16 in 2011-2012 with Montreal) and points with 38 (he had 30 in 2012-2013 with the Canadiens).  His 15 even strength goals was a career best, as were his six power play points and 161 shots on goal.  And, buying into the two-way approach the Caps adopted as the season wore on, he had his best year blocking shots (69).

Cheerless’ Take… That minus-6 he had was only worse in two other seasons – 2015-2016 (minus-13) and 2013-2014 (minus-15), both with Montreal.  He was not an especially effective possession player, ranking seventh among Caps forwards appearing in at least 40 games in shot attempts-for percentage at 5-on-5 (47.89 percent).  And, being a center on a third line, presumably a checking line trying to deny possession, one might have liked to see better faceoff numbers.  In 63 games in which he took at least ten draws, he was over 50 percent only 25 times.

Odd Eller Fact… “Shooting Eller” equaled Caps success.  Six times this season Eller recorded at least five shots on goal.  The Caps won all of them.  Eller had goals in four of those games.

Game to Remember… November 2^nd vs New York Islanders

When the Capitals took the ice on November 2^nd against the New York Islanders at Capital One Arena, they just returned from their three-game tour of western Canada, one in which they went 1-2-0 to extend a rough start to the season.  After the trip, the Caps were just 5-6-1 in their first dozen games.  Meanwhile, the Islanders were winners of seven of their first dozen games, and they gave Caps all they might have wanted.  Washington just could not put the visitors away.  Three times the Caps scored, and three times the Islanders tied the game, the last time coming with seven minutes gone in the third period on a goal by Anders Lee, his second of the game.

It looked as if the game might go to overtime and the time grew short in regulation, but the Caps had a chance late.  Brooks Orpik left the puck at his own goal line for John Carlson to circle around the net.  Coming out the other side, he banked a pass off the right wing boards to Tom Wilson in front of the players bench.  Wilson dropped the puck off for Eller cutting through the neutral zone, and Eller hauled it into the Islanders’ end.  With Chandler Stephenson cutting to the net down the middle and presenting a distraction, Eller curled in and snapped a shot that beat goalie Jaroslav Halak over his glove and under the crossbar with just 3:21 left for the game-winning goal in a 4-3 decision.  It was Eller’s second goal of the game and completed what would be his only three-point game of the season and his first as a Capital.  And, it was the last time the Caps were under .500 for the season.

Game to Forget… March 18^th at Philadelphia

When the Caps headed up I-95 to Philadelphia on March 18^th, they might have been feeling pretty good about themselves.  They were taking a four-game winning streak to Philadelphia, their longest winning streak since a five-game streak straddling the end of 2017 and the beginning of 2018.  Eller was doing his part, recording goals in three of the four wins, including his 100^th career goal, an empty-netter in a 2-0 win in San Jose against the Sharks. 

The Caps and Flyers fought to a scoreless draw in the first period, but they were clocked by the home team in the second, allowing a Shayne Gostisbehere goal just 2:15 into the period (Eller was on ice) and finding themselves on the short end of a 3-1 margin at the second intermission.  Philly added a fourth goal just 97 seconds into the third to end the competitive portion of the contest (Eller was on ice for that one, too).  Philly won, going away, 6-3, with Eller on the ice for four of the Flyer goals, his minus-4 for the contest being his worst of the season and only the second time he was that low on the plus-minus ledger for a single game with the Caps.

Postseason…

But for one shining season before this one, Lars Eller had his postseason challenges.  In 17 games with the Montreal Canadiens in 2014, Eller was 5-8-13, plus-6, had a shorthanded goal and his only postseason game winning goal (against Boston in Game 6 in the second round, setting up a Montreal series win in Game 7).  In his other four trips to the playoffs…yeesh.  In 33 games he was 1-9-10, minus-1, his only goal of the shorthanded variety.

Well, that was then, and boy, was this now.  Eller had a fabulous postseason.  Let’s start with the goals.  He set a career best in postseason goals with seven.  The first and last were of the game-winning variety, the first of them in double overtime to give the Caps a 3-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets.  With the Caps staring down the barrel of an 0-3 deficit in games if they lost, it is hardly hyperbole to say that Eller’s overtime winner saved the season.  His last was the game-deciding, series-clinching, Cup-winning goal, coming with just 7:37 left in Game 5 that the Caps won, 4-3.  Eller had a third game-winning goal to his credit, coming in Game 2 of the Caps’ conference final series against the Tampa Bay Lightning.  Eller was one of three players in the postseason to record three game-winning goals (Paul Stastny and Nikita Kucherov were the others). 

There were the points.  Eller finished the postseason with a career-best 18, but it was his ability to score in bunches that stood out.  He had four multi-point games that, while tied for 18^th in the postseason, was as many as Kucherov (third in the league in the regular season with 100 points) and Steven Stamkos. 

His time on ice was valuable.  The Caps were 11-4 in games in which Eller skated at least 16 minutes, 5-4 in games in which he did not.  He established career high for postseason shots on goal (52), hits (53), takeaways (10), and average time on ice (17:00).  He might not have had a “Conn Smythe” level of postseason, but if there was a “Most Important Player,” he might have been a finalist.

In the end…

Lars Eller’s postseason is a thread that connects many moments, most of them of the game-changing, series-swaying variety.  He displayed an assertiveness that seemed to be lacking in the past, especially when he came up without a goal in the 2017 postseason for the Caps (a common malady among bottom-six forwards last spring).  And his ability to fill in for Nicklas Backstrom on the second line when Backstrom was injured was the sort of “stepping up” that coaches talk about, but rarely occur.  He was a player fully immersed in the present.  For Eller, it might be hard to single out a moment that stands out among the rest.  You might say that he had more than he could count.

Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images North America

Washington Capitals: 2017-2018 By the Tens -- Forwards: Brett Connolly

Brett Connolly

“Twice and thrice over, as they say, good is it to repeat and review what is good.”

-- Plato

When Brett Connolly signed a one-year, $850,000 contract with the Washington Capitals In July 2016, he arrived as a player with things to prove.  A sixth-overall draft pick in 2010, he was not able to translate that high selection into impressive numbers on the ice.  He spent three and a half seasons with the team that drafted him – the Tampa Bay Lightning – before he was shipped to Boston for a couple of second round draft picks (you are forgiven if you do not remember the selections as Matthew Spencer and Boris Katchouk).  He spent a year and change in Boston but was unable to put up noteworthy numbers there.

And that brought him to Washington on a one-year “demonstration” deal.  Demonstrate, he did.  In 66 games he recorded a career high 15 goals, a second-best 23 points, and a career best plus-20.  His reward was a two-year deal for $3.0 million.  The next task, then, was to demonstrate that the 2016-2017 season was not a fluke.

It wasn’t.  Getting mostly third-line minutes, Connolly duplicated his 2016-2017 season in goals with 15 in 2017-2018.  He added 12 assists, the second highest total of his career, and chipped in a career best four power play goals.  What was perhaps most amazing about his performance in 2017-2018 is that he took an uncommonly efficient shooting percentage in 2016-2017 (18.5 percent) and improved on it, reaching 22.4 percent this season.  Over his two seasons in Washington, of 1,104 players recording at least 50 shots on goal, Connolly has the fifth-best shooting percentage (22.4 percent).

It made for a consistent season as one looks at his goal production through his ten-game segments.  He failed in only one segment to record at least one goal (the seventh segment, for Games 61-70, which made up the last part of a 15-game goalless streak that would eventually reach 16 games).  He was just as consistent in posting points, with a slight upward trend in his production as he worked his way through the segments.

Fearless’ Take… The Caps got a healthy dose of secondary scoring this season, and Brett Connolly was in the thick of it.  He had points in 25 of the 70 games in which he appeared, and the Caps were 17-5-3 in those games. 

Cheerless’ Take… It was better if Connolly got those points early, cuz, because he didn’t wear well the longer he skated in games.  In 21 games in which he logged at least 13:30 in ice time, the Caps were just 8-11-2.  And the flip side of that “secondary scoring” thing is actually, you know…shooting the puck.  Washington was 15-11-2 in 28 games in which Connolly did not record a shot.

Odd Connolly Fact… The Caps have never lost a game in regulation on home ice when Brett Connolly scores a goal.  They were 12-0-2 in such games.   

Game to Remember… December 14^th at Boston

It is not often that a memorable game comes in one where a player fails to record a point, even rarer when that player doesn’t register a single shot attempt.  But sometimes a player contributes in other ways.  The Caps certainly have had the Boston Bruins’ number in recent years, and nothing in this game in mid-December would change that.  The Caps got a pair of goals from an unlikely source – Alex Chiasson – and multiple point nights from Alex Ovechkin and Dmitry Orlov.  Connolly’s contributions were of perhaps a more mundane sort, but they left an impression, no doubt.  Against a team for which he played in 76 games over two seasons, he registered four credited hits, tops among forwards for the game, and the Caps won, 5-3, in what was Connolly’s 300^th game in the NHL.

Game to Forget… October 26^th at Vancouver

Brett Connolly has never had much success against the Vancouver Canucks.  Fortunately, he had not had much opportunity to add to his misery.  Going into Vancouver for a game on October 26^th, Connolly was 0-1-1 in six career games against the Canucks.  He had the same scoring line after this game.  In a game that might serve as a thoroughly forgettable experience for the whole squad (the Caps lost, 6-2, after digging themselves a hole by giving up the game’s first five goals), Connolly skated a team-low eight shifts and 5:19 in ice time (his shortest night of work for the season).  He skated one shift in the second period and did not see the ice again, courtesy of an upper-body injury he sustained from a hit by defenseman Erik Gudbranson.  Connolly would miss the next seven games.

Postseason… Connolly took a while to get started on offense in the postseason, recording a lone assist in the six-game first round series against Columbus and getting shut out in points in Game 1 against Pittsburgh in the second round.  But he was a solid contributor starting with an insurance goal in the second period to give the Caps a 3-0 lead in Game 2, a game they would win, 4-1.  Starting with that game, Connolly went 6-2-8, plus-4, in his last 17 postseason games and shot an amazing 28.6 percent.  This despite averaging only 10:49 per game.  It was a far cry from last year’s postseason in which he did not record a point in seven games.

In the end…

Brett Connolly has carved out a productive niche for himself as a third liner who can provide some offensive pop.  He was sixth on the team in goals scored, tied for fifth in power play goals.  He was not an especially effective possession player (he was 15 of 26 skaters appearing in at least 40 games in shot attempts-for percentage at 5-on-5), but he did have a reasonably good takeaway-to-giveaway ratio (0.89) for a player getting third line minutes.  His performance, repeating in many respects his 2016-2017 effort, help the Caps weather the departure of fellow right winger Justin Williams last offseason.  But while his 2017-2018 regular season did look a lot like a repeat of his 2016-2017 regular season, it was his erasing the memory of his 2017 postseason with a much more productive 2018 postseason that will merit repeat viewings.

Photo: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images North America

Washington Capitals: 2017-2018 By the Tens -- Forwards: Alex Chiasson

Alex Chiasson

“The secret of success is to be ready when your opportunity comes.”

-- Benjamin Disraeli

A “journeyman” in sports is that player who is reliable, who can fill in when needed, but rarely has the skill set to have a guaranteed spot in the lineup or is assured of a long tenure in one locale.  It speaks to the need for a certain opportunism needed for when chances present themselves.

Alex Chiasson is a “journeyman” with the noble underpinnings the term implies.  A second round draft pick of the Dallas Stars in 2009, when he signed with the Caps as a free agency just before the start of the 2017-2018 season, he was joining his fourth franchise in six NHL seasons (Ottawa and Calgary being stops on the way between Dallas and Washington).  He came to the Caps on his third one-year contract in three seasons with diminishing levels of compensation ($1.2 million with Ottawa in 2015-2016, $800,000 with Calgary in 2016-2017, and $660,000 with the Caps for this season after being brought in on a professional try-out in early September).  You could say he had incentive, a 27-year old looking for some stability in his career, especially after having a respectable 12-12-24 scoring line with the Calgary Flames in 2016-2017.

Chiasson’s season ended up having an odd quality to it, though.  He dressed for 35 of the team’s first 36 games and 47 of the first 51 games on the schedule.  But he got a sweater for only 14 of the last 31 games.  Not that game frequency seemed to matter; Chiasson still posted consistent, if modest numbers over the first seven of his ten-game segments.  He recorded points in all of them, and he recorded seven goals in his first five segments covering 46 games (a 12-goal pace for a player getting fourth line minutes – 12:17 a game over that span – is a pleasant number).

It is also worth mentioning that Chiasson closed with a rush, going 2-6-8 in his last 13 games.

Fearless’ Take… Alex Chiasson might be thought of as “Jay Beagle-lite” in one respect.  The Caps were 7-1-0 in games in which he scored a goal and 11-1-2 in games in which he registered a point.  The power of secondary scoring.  And, getting ice time was a good thing (do the “four-line roll”…cha-cha-cha).  Washington was 26-7-2 in games in which he skated at least 11:45 in ice time, 11-12-3 in games in which he did not.

Cheerless’ Take… Here’s a weird number for Chiasson.  Of 311 forwards taking at least 40 faceoffs this season, he was 306^th in faceoff winning percentage (11-for-41/26.8 percent). Of 392 forwards appearing in at least 40 games, he was 360^th in shots on goal per game (0.97).  In that same group he was 377^th in shot attempts-for percentage at 5-on-5 (43.79 percent).  He was not a “high event” player.

Odd Chiasson Fact… Alex Chiasson and Evgeny Kuznetsov were the only Capitals to record both a power play and a shorthanded goal this season.

Game to Remember… March 16^th vs. New York Islanders

Before the Caps hosted the New York Islanders on March 16^th, Alex Chiasson dressed in only one of the previous seven games for the Caps, a somewhat forgettable seven minutes and change without a point in a 3-1 loss to the Kings in Los Angeles.  That he would get a sweater against the New York Islanders was a bit odd.  To that point in his career, Chiasson was 1-4-5, even, in 11 career games against the Isles.  And, the Caps were on a three-game winning streak after that loss in Los Angeles without Chiasson in the lineup, one of those wins coming the previous night as the Caps pounded tine Isles, 7-3 in Brooklyn.

Well, it worked.  The teams spent the first 27 minutes exchanging power play goals, a pair of Washington scores wrapped around an Islander tally.  Late in the second period, though, the Caps scored on a broken play.  Matt Niskanen skated through the right wing circle and fired a sharp angle shot at goalie Jaroslav Halak.  The shot was cuffed out into the low slot where Chiasson could not quite separate it from the poke check of Jordan Eberle for a solid shot.  The puck skidded out to Halak’s right where Niskanen was emerging from his loop around the back of the net.  He gathered the puck, stepped out for a better shooting angle, and using Chiasson as a screen beat Halak on the near side to give the Caps a 3-1 lead with just over two minutes left in the period.

Less than two minutes into the third period, Chiasson got a goal of his own.  With the Caps in the dying seconds of a power play, Jakub Vrana grabbed the puck inside the offensive blue line and circled to the cage.  However, with Adam Pelech hounding him, Vrana lost the puck off the toe of his stick as he was getting to the paint.  Halak paddled the stick away, but Chiasson was following up the play and after the loose puck clicked of the skate of a defender, he flicked it into what was now an open net.  It would be his first and only power play goal of the season, and, as it turned out, one of two game winning goals he had for the season.  He added an assist on a Vrana goal later, giving him a three-point night, his only one of the season.

Game to Forget… April 5^th vs. Nashville

April 5^th was a night when “suck” was a team thing, but for Alex Chiasson, the matter was one of replacing a vowel, swapping out a “u” for an “i.”  The Caps blew a 3-2 third period lead when the Predators scored goals six minutes apart.  But by that time, Chiasson’s night was already over.  After skating just seven shifts and 4:10 over two periods, he finally came up sick on the bench.  He managed one shot, one hit, and one blocked shot in what would be his shortest stint in a game this season.

Postseason… Alex Chiasson did start regularly for the Caps as the playoffs began.  He was in the lineup for their first 15 games, in fact – all six against Columbus and Pittsburgh, and the first three games of the conference final against Tampa Bay.  What he did not get was ice time.  He averaged just 8:57 a game in those 15 contests before sitting out Game 4 against Tampa Bay.  He would dress for only one more game in the postseason, that in Game 6 against the Lightning.  He finished with a goal and an assist in his 16 games of action.

In the end…

Nine goals in 61 games is probably more than folks might have thought they would be getting from Alex Chiasson when he was signed last fall.  But by the same token, he is an unrestricted free agent again, and what with the Caps having a lot on their plate in terms of personnel management, he might be on the move again.  He showed himself to be a capable fourth-liner who could chip in a timely goal here and there.  It might not be enough to earn another deal in Washington, but after a season in which he made the most of his opportunity, having been a member of a Stanley Cup champion, he will no doubt have value to remain in the NHL.

Photo:  Ethan Miller/Getty Images North America

Washington Capitals: 2017-2018 By the Tens -- Forwards: Jay Beagle

Jay Beagle

“True happiness... is not attained through self-gratification, but through fidelity to a worthy purpose.”

-- Helen Keller

Jay Beagle had a career year in 2016-2017 – 13 goals, 17 assists, 30 points, a plus-20, 12 even strength goals, four game-winning goals, 100 shots on goal, a 13.0 percent shooting percentage, all career bests.  With the Caps entering the 2017-2018 season with what many viewed as an inferior roster, and with Beagle in the “walk” year of his current contract, there might have been a certain temptation to duplicate his previous year’s numbers to maximize his free agent value, even if doing so caused him to step outside the team structure.

Beagle did not replicate his career year of 2017-2018, but he had a season that did put him in a position to cash in nicely in free agency, should he choose to go that route this summer. His numbers compare favorably to his per-82 game numbers over his eight years preceding his big year last season.  In 79 games he had:

• Seven goals (eight per 82 games over his first eight seasons)
• 15 assists (nine)
• 22 points (17)
• Plus-3 (minus-3)
• 16 penalty minutes (32)
• Two game-winning goals (two)
• Two shorthanded goals (he had a total of one in his first eight seasons)
• 10.8 percent shooting percentage (8.5 percent)
• An average of 12:27 in ice time per game (12:08)

Beagle’s tens were rather consistent.  Only twice in eight segments did he fail to record a goal; only once did he have as many as two.  He had a points range of 2-4 points across seven of the eight segments, only dipping to one point in his seventh segment.  Six times in eight segments he had a single minor penalty.  Once he had two minors, and in the other he went without a trip to the penalty box.

Beagle’s time on ice was an interesting indicator of team success.  In 33 games in which he skated at least 13 minutes, the Caps were 25-5-3.  In the 46 games in which he skated less than 13 minutes, they were 22-20-4.  Not surprising if you think about Beagle as more a defensive player with faceoff skills you might want on the ice late in games in which the club is ahead.

Fearless’ Take… There have been 494 skaters dressing for the Washington Capitals for at least one game over 43 seasons.  Jay Beagle, an undrafted free agent who was signed to his first contract with the Caps at the age of 22 and who did not play in his first NHL game until he was 23, is now in 30^th place in franchise history in games played (471).  Only seven players in team history have appeared in more postseason games with the Caps than Beagle (85).  Since he came into the league in 2008-2009 (playing only three games with the Caps that season), only Brooks Laich spent more time killing penalties (1,233:44) than Beagle (889:41) among forwards.  And, although he was a player who battled with injuries earlier in his career, he missed only four games over the past two seasons.  And there is “The Beagle Effect.”  In 47 career regular season games in which Beagle scored a goal, the Caps are 41-1-5.  Washington was 7-0-0 in games featuring a Beagle goal this season, bringing the streak to 17 straight games in which Beagle scored a goal that the Caps won.

Cheerless’ Take…  There were 363 forwards appearing in 50 or more regular season games this season.  Beagle was last among them in shot attempts-for percentage on ice at 5-on-5 (39.04 percent).  Just for good measure, he was last in unblocked shot attempts-for at 5-on-5, too (38.91 percent).  Things might have gone a lot worse for him and for the Caps if the shooting percentage at fives with Beagle on ice was lower than 8.7 percent (tied for 99^th among those forwards).

Odd Beagle Fact… Jay Beagle had 17 instances this season in which he took at least 10 faceoffs and had a faceoff winning percentage of 70 percent or better.  That was most in the league (Ryan O’Reilly did it 15 times).

Game to Remember… January 12^th at Carolina

The Caps were playing the Carolina Hurricanes for the third time in ten days.  Having split the first two encounters, the Caps were looking to take the rubber match in the back half of a home and home, back to back set of games.  The teams exchanged the lead three times, the ‘Canes breaking on top on a Jordan Staal power play goal 3:20 into the game, and the Caps tying the game on a power play four minutes later.  The Caps took their first lead of the game just 28 seconds into the second period, but Carolina tied it back up on a Sebastian Aho power play goal in the ninth minute of the period.  Carolina took the lead back less than two minutes into the third period on a Jeff Skinner goal, but Brett Connolly tied it one last time with an unassisted goal off a Carolina giveaway with just 3:08 remaining in regulation.  It appeared the game would go to extra time as the clock ticked under a minute to go.  The Caps had one more rush in them, though…

Jay Beagle stuck with a loose puck, sneaking it under the glove of goalie Cam Ward with just 1.3 seconds left to give the Caps a 4-3 win.

Game to Forget… March 30^th vs. Carolina

The last meeting of the clubs for the season hardly went as the Caps or Beagle would have scripted it.  A scoreless first period gave way to a Michal Kempny goal early in the second period, but Carolina drew even just 40 seconds later on a Derek Ryan goal.  It just got worse for the Caps from there.  The Hurricanes added a goal later in the second period, and then they added a pair in the third period, the latter of them an empty netter.  Carolina skated off the Capital One Arena ice with a 4-1 win, the Caps’ worst loss on home ice by margin of defeat since they lost a 5-2 decision to the Los Angeles Kings on November 30^th.  Beagle skated just 9:10 in ice time, had no shot attempts, no hits, no takeaways.  Only Chandler Stephenson skated as few shifts (13) as Beagle, tied for the fewest Beagle skated in a home game all year.

Postseason…

The 2018 postseason was redemption in the case of Jay Beagle.  In the 2017 playoffs Beagle failed to record a point in 13 games and was a minus-5. He had only six shots on goal in the 13 games, the fewest he had in any postseason since he had one shot on goal in four games in 2009.  This spring, though, Beagle went 2-6-8, his point total equaling his total over 39 playoff games over his previous three seasons.  He was a career-best plus-7, recorded his second postseason game-winning goal (in Game 1 against Tampa Bay in the conference final), and finished fifth among 67 players taking at least 50 faceoffs with a 60.1 winning percentage, a career best.  In the postseason, there were ten instances of a player taking at least ten draws and winning at least 80 percent of them.  Beagle accounted for three of them.  No other player had more than one.  And, Beagle became the first player in the history of the NHL to have a Kelly Cup (ECHL), a Calder Cup (AHL), and a Stanley Cup (NHL) championship on his resume.

In the end…

Jay Beagle is that player who carved out a solid NHL career on the basis of hard work and a fidelity to playing hockey the “right way.”  His possession numbers might be better, and his role is that of a bottom-six forward, but his work ethic and timeliness in contributing offense in this year’s postseason makes him one of the best at what he does in the role he plays.  If Beagle should leave the club in free agency this summer, he goes out on the highest of notes.  Teams need a “Beagle” to be successful, and his body of work this season and over his career makes him a player to be prized in the market and admired by Caps fans.

Image: NBC Sports

Washington Capitals: 2017-2018 By the Tens -- Forwards: Nicklas Backstrom

Nicklas Backstrom

"Paralyze resistance with persistence."

-- Woody Hayes

Even now, with a championship on his resume, there is a nagging tendency to take Nicklas Backstrom for granted or lose him in the lineup of great players of the last decade.  Maybe it’s the goal scoring.  True, coming into this season Backstrom was wedged between Alexandre Burrows and Bryan Little in the rankings since the 2007-2008 season, when Backstrom came into the league.  But only Joe Thornton and Henrik Sedin had more assists over the same period, and Backstrom was second on the list in assists per game (to Sidney Crosby) and was eighth in points per game (minimum: 400 games).

What it comes down to, though, is the style.  Backstrom might not have a parallel in bending the pace of a game to his liking.  In that respect, Coach Hayes’ quote about paralyzing resistance with persistence is fitting.  Throw in “consistent,” and you have Backstrom.  In 2017, Backstrom:

• Appeared in 81 games, making it 80 of more games for the seventh time in ten full seasons (not including the abbreviated 2012-2013 season)
• Recorded 21 goals, the fifth time he hit or topped the 20-goal mark
• Added 50 assists, the eighth time he hit or topped the 50-assist mark
• Posted 71 points, the seventh time he hit or topped the 70-point mark
• Scored seven power play goals, fourth-most for a season in his career
• Had 27 power play points, making it eight in which he had 25 or more power play points in a season
• Recorded four game-winning goals, tied for second-most in his career

Drill down into his season, though, and there were dents in that armor of consistency.  His goal scoring was reasonably consistent across the eight segments, only once finishing with fewer than two goals and once with more than three.  But his assist totals thinned out in the middle portion of the season. He had 20 assists over his first three ten-game segments, but he had only 16 over his next four.  He closed with a rush, though, going 6-20-26 in his last two ten-game segments.  Seems he got a bit more ornery over the same segments, too.  He had almost half of his 46 penalty minutes (22) in those last two segments.

Fearless’ Take… Nicklas Backstrom is still arguably the straw that stirs the drink for the Caps.  They were 33-6-3 in games in which he recorded a point, 16-19-4 when they did not; 16-2-3 when he recorded a goal, 33-23-4 when he did not.  He was also a consistent player by venue, going 10-24-34 in 41 home games and 11-26-37 in 40 road games.  The consistency was hardly unusual.  Backstrom finished the regular season with 14 goals and 406 points in 407 career home games, and 105 goals and 393 points in 408 road games.

Cheerless’ Take… It would be fair to say that Backstrom is now the second-line center.  No sin in that, but after spending the better part of his first decade in the league centering Alex Ovechkin, that job was Evgeny Kuznetsov’s this season.  It might have played a role in Backstrom finishing with his lowest points per game (0.88) since his rookie season (0.84). Yes, he had those 50 assists for the eighth time in his career, but it was his second-lowest total for any season in which he appeared in more than 50 games (47 in 77 games in 2010-2011), and it was his lowest career assists per game (0.62) of any of his 11 seasons.

Odd Backstrom Fact… In 2017-2018 Nicklas Backstrom scored 21 goals.  He scored those 21 goals in 21 different games, making this the first full season in his career he did not have a multi-goal game (excluding the abbreviated 2012-2013 season in which he had eight goals in eight different games on the 48-game schedule).

Game to Remember… February 6^th at Columbus

When the Caps visited the Columbus Blue Jackets in early February, they held a three-point lead over the New Jersey Devils at the top of the Metropolitan Division.  However, they were in the midst of a slump of sorts, losers of two straight and with a 3-4-2 over their previous nine games.  The teams traded first period goals, and Tom Wilson scored in the second to give the Caps a lead going into the last 20 minutes.  The Caps were playing a somewhat desperate team, though.  The Blue Jackets went into this game tied with the New York Islanders for fourth place in the division and only three points ahead of the last-place New York Rangers.  They drew even late in the period when Brandon Dubinsky batted in a rebound of his own shot with just 6:05 left in regulation.  The teams might have gone to extra time, but with less than a minute left, this happened…

It was Nicklas Backstrom’s 200^th career goal and his first game-winning goal scored on the road in the 2017-2018 season.  He became just the fifth player in Caps’ history to score 200 goals with the club, joining Alex Ovechkin, Peter Bondra, Mike Gartner, and Mike Ridley.  With an assist earlier in the game, it was also his 207^th career multi-point game, putting him one behind Bondra for second-most in Caps history.  He added nine more multi-point games over the rest of the season to take second place all to himself.

Game to Forget… January 11^th vs. Carolina

The Caps were closing out a three-game home stand in early January against the Carolina Hurricanes, bringing a five-game winning streak into the contest.  It was the second time that the Caps would face the ‘Canes in barely a week and part of a stretch in which they would face Carolina three times in five games. The first game in this trifecta was a tough one, the Caps winning a 5-4 decision on an overtime goal by Alex Ovechkin.  This game was proving to be as closely fought.  The teams went to the first intermission scoreless.  The scoreless tie was broken mid-way through the second period when, on a Caps power play, Jordan Staal intercepted a weak cross-ice pass from John Carlson intended for Alex Ovechkin and scored on a breakaway shorthanded.  Lars Eller tied the game for the Caps late in the period, but Carolina regained the lead mid-way through the third on a goal by Victor Rask.  Sebastien Aho added an empty net goal for the final 3-1 margin.  As for Backstrom, he was on ice for all three Carolina goals and did not have a shot attempt in the contest.  The odd part of it is that it was the 11^th time in his career Backstrom did not register a shot on goal against Carolina, second-most by a Capital against that team since he entered the league (Jeff Schultz: 17).

Postseason…  Until this postseason, Nicklas Backstrom had never missed a postseason game to injury.  The only one of 97 playoff games for the Caps that he missed before this season was due to his receiving a one-game suspension for a cross-check he administered to Rich Peverley of the Boston Bruins at the end of Game 3 of their 2012 series.   Then, he was in the lineup for the Caps’ first 11 postseason games this year.  In that 11^th game, though, Backstrom was helping kill a Pittsburgh Penguin power play when he blocked a shot off the stick of Justin Schultz, and while he did play after that, he did so in distress and sat out the last 13 minutes in a 6-3 Caps win.   To that point, Backstrom was 3-10-13 in scoring, a points total only exceeded in an entire playoff season once in his career (2009, when he had 15 points in 14 games).

Backstrom missed the Caps’ next four games, the series-clinching win against the Penguins in Pittsburgh and then the first three games of the conference final against Tampa Bay.  That four-game absence might have been longer but for the fact that after clinching the series win against the Penguins and winning Games 1 and 2 in Tampa against the Lightning in the conference final, the Caps lost Game 3 on home ice.  He returned for Games 4 and 5, both Caps losses that put Washington on the brink of elimination.  Backstrom raised his game in Game 6, recording a pair of assists in a 3-0 win.  It was the first of what would be a superb run for Backstrom, who went 2-8-10 in the Caps’ last seven playoff games, six of them wins.  Only once in that stretch did Backstrom not record a point, that being in Game 3 against Vegas in the final.  He finished the postseason 5-18-23 in 20 games, his 18 assists equaling the total he posted in his previous 40 playoff games before this season.  Those 18 assists are also the second-highest total by a Capital in the postseason in team history (Evgeny Kuznetsov had 20 in these playoffs).

In the end…

It is a foregone conclusion at this point that Alex Ovechkin will be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.  It should be one regarding Nicklas Backstrom as well.  In 11 NHL seasons he has 590 assists, 59 assists per 82 games played.  If he plays another six seasons, he could well top 900 assists for his career.  At the moment, 19 players in NHL history complied 900 or more assists in their careers.  Of that group, 17 are already in the Hall of Fame, and Joe Thornton and Jaromir Jagr would appear locks.  Even of the 31 players with 800 or more assists, 27 are in the Hall, three are active (and likely to be inducted), leaving only Pierre Turgeon (last season: 2006-2007) as Hall-eligible who has not been inducted.

This is the position into which 11 years of excellence has placed Backstrom.  He is on a very short list of best playmakers of his time and might be eclipsed only by Ovechkin as the greatest Capital of all time.  His 2017-2018 season was a tribute to his consistency and resolve.  He overcame a bit of unfamiliarity with new linemates and then injury in the postseason, a pair of fractures to his finger being the sort of injury that could cripple a lesser player who depends on deft passing as the core of his game.  In one respect – the absence of fireworks in his game – his 2017-2018 season was like any other, but while he might paralyze opponents with pesistence, those in Capitals Nation who have watched his game over the past 11 seasons know that a fire lurks under that quiet demeanor.

Photo: Jonathan Newton/The Washington Post

Washington Capitals: An Appreciation for Those Who Helped Deliver a Champion

The parade is over, the parties are (largely) winding down, and the non-stop high octane celebrations are dwindling.  Now is the time to acknowledge those for whom the Stanley Cup in Washington is no small measure of sweet satisfaction.

And it starts at the top.  To Majority Owner Ted Leonsis, congratulations.  This championship is richly deserved.  When one lives the life of a sports owner as publicly as Leonsis, he is going to leave himself open to second guessing and criticism (heaven knows, we’ve been a party to it).  His openness led him to take the heat that might otherwise be directed at this manager or that player.  But despite that, he had the patience and determination to see this through, and the charge that he led in pursuit of the Stanley Cup as the organizational face of the franchise paid off.  He stands alone atop the pyramid in the DMV as a sports owner and manager.  And it will take considerable effort to knock him off that perch any time soon.  Well done, Ted.

Then there is Brian MacLellan.  When he was named general manager, some might have wondered why hire from within when there was so much disappointment and frustration that played out under previous management (of which he was a part).  Well, this is why fans and media don’t make personnel decisions.  MacLellan showed himself not only to be adept at constructing a roster, he didn’t seem to care much about how much he revealed in terms of strategy.  He was going to do it a certain way, he was going to be open about doing things a certain way, and there really wasn’t much anyone could do to get in his way.  Sure, he was the latest architect of a roster that disappointed in 2016 and 2017, but despite a two-year window that even in his own telling seemed to be closing, he added pieces to the roster to replace bigger names departing that proved to be the right ones.  It might not have been the most talented team the Capitals ever iced or that looked best on paper, but it was the “best” team where it mattered – on the ice.  And he, along with his staff, deserve a lot of credit for that.  Well done, Brian.

There is Barry Trotz.  How many coaches in any sport go from being literally one game from being fired to coaching a champion in the same season?  You can probably count them on your fist.  He did not have quite as bright a light shining on his perceived shortcomings as Alex Ovechkin, but there were parallels, most notably his never having coached a team out of the second round of the playoffs.  As the playoffs wore on, though, it seemed every choice he made was the right one – benching and then reinstating Andre Burakovsky, bringing Braden Holtby back into the lineup in Game 2 against Columbus, not using as a crutch the reuniting of Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom on a line when it might have been the “safe” move to do so, taking the “hot” lap to relieve the tension before Game 7 against Tampa Bay in the conference final.  Life does not present many runs of good fortune like that, but it would be unkind and unfair to Trotz to pronounce it “lucky.”  After all, he came into this postseason as the fifth-winningest coach in the regular season in NHL history, and he had ten previous trips to the postseason as experience on which he could rely.  And one should not forget his having planted the seeds of success months ago, knowing that the club that lost to the Penguins in 2017 needed to heal, and meeting with Alex Ovechkin in Moscow in the offseason to talk about what the forward needed to do for the upcoming season.  For Trotz, the season was a coaching tour de force.  There wasn’t anything “lucky” about it.  Well done, Barry.

And the same goes for Trotz’ staff.  Todd Reirden, Lane Lambert, Blaine Forsythe, Scott Murray, Brett Leonhardt, Tim Ohashi, Mitch Korn, and Olaf Kolzig had to play their parts and fill their roles well to make sure that no part of the game – special teams, goaltending, team and opponent tendencies – could fall through the cracks.  These coaches made sure no stone was left unturned in finding an advantage to implement or a deficiency among opponents to exploit.  Well done, gentlemen.

Teams have to deal with the grind of an 82-game season, and it is hard on the bodies of even the most finely trained and tuned athletes.  Teams have to be current with what is going on around them across the league.  They have to provide the logistical and other support to make a long season bearable, allowing the players to focus on hockey.  The efforts of the medical, analytical, scouting, and operations staff often fly under the radar, but they are as important to the success of a champion as the more visible elements.  Well done, indeed.

And we cannot forget that as much as a sports organization, this is a media organization.  Mike Vogel, John Walton, and Ken Sabourin, whether out in front of the public on game days with commentary, interviews, and giving voice to the games, or behind the scenes preparing and producing content, made this a season to remember.  And to this group we would have to add Joe Beninati and Craig Laughlin of NBC Sports Washington, the best television broadcast pair in the NHL, period and point blank.  Each of these individuals made the memories of this season more vivid and meaningful.

Fans are generally fans of players, not of those who toil in suits.  But leadership, management, and media for the Caps (including those we might not have mentioned here) played no small role in achieving what has eluded this franchise for four decades.  They deserve the respect and appreciation by Capitals Nation for a job well done. 

Photo: Getty Images

Washington Capitals: 44 Years, 44 Days

When the Washington Capitals awoke on April 26, 2018, they had escaped a tough foe in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, the Columbus Blue Jackets.  But that evening they would face once more perhaps the most bitter, most frustrating rival in the 44 years of franchise history.  The Pittsburgh Penguins inflicted more pain and heartache on the Capitals and their fans than any other team.  Ten times they faced the Penguins in the playoffs, and nine times they were eliminated by them, more than by any other franchise.

Things would not come easy for the Caps.  Facing the Penguins with home ice advantage as Metropolitan Division winners, Washington promptly gave it away.  Taking a 1-0 advantage into the third period and adding a goal by Alex Ovechkin just 28 seconds into the third period, they  allowed the Penguins three goals in the space of 4:49 of the third period to come out on the short end of a 3-2 decision.

The Capitals evened the series at a game apiece with a 4-1 win in Game 2 on home ice, but they would have to win at least one game in Pittsburgh to win this series.  They did it in Game 3, turning the tables on the Penguins.  Pittsburgh took a 3-2 lead into the third period, but goals by Matt Niskanen and Alex Ovechkin in the third provided the winning margin in 4-3 win.  Ovechkin’s goal at the 18:53 mark provided one of those “signs” that fans might point to as evidence that this year would be different.  Ovechkin appeared to bury a feed by Nicklas Backstrom off a 2-on-1 rush, but his shot hit the post on goalie Matt Murray’s glove side.  The puck caromed behind Murray and out the other side, giving Ovechkin an opportunity for one more swipe at it.  He did not fail, swatting the puck out of mid-air and into the back of the net for the game-winning goal.

Pittsburgh won Game 4 by a 3-1 margin to tie the series at two games apiece, reducing the fight to a best-of-three affair.  Games 5-7 have not been kind to the Caps in the first 43 years of team history, and it was with no small amount of concern about Game 5 on home ice.  That concern seemed well-founded when Pittsburgh took another 3-2 lead into the third period of this contest.  Evgeny Kuznetsov pulled the Caps even just 52 seconds into the period, setting up a tense final frame.  Where the Caps might have crumbled in the past in such situations, they did not in this game.  They came through in a manner that eluded them in the past, getting the big save when they needed it and a goal on the ensuing rush.  It was Braden Holtby stopping a point blank backhand by Brian Dumoulin at one end, and then Alex Ovechkin carrying the puck into the other end.  Just before looping around the Penguin net, he fed the puck in front where Jakub Vrana buried it from the low slot.  The Caps added empty net goals by T.J. Oshie and Lars Eller 35 seconds apart, and the Caps had a 6-3 win.

Suddenly, it was the Penguins feeling the heat, facing an elimination game on home ice, their “threepeat” as Stanley Cup champion in considerable jeopardy in Game 6.  It was a classic.  After a scoreless first period with little in the way of shots, the teams combining for only 13 in the first 20 minutes, they exchanged second period goals.  Alex Chiasson gave the Caps a lead, and Kris Letang tied the game mid-way through the period.  When neither club could solve the other goaltender in the third, it went to overtime. 

Hockey is a different animal from other team sports in many respects, but how overtime ends might be the most unique aspect of the sport.  In football, you can generally see things coming as a team drives down the field for what would be the game-winning field goal or touchdown.  Even in baseball, most walk-off decisions are the product of putting runners on base to drive in with a base hit.  In basketball, there is a clock that must run its course.  But in hockey, overtime often ends with a thunderclap, unexpected and loud.   It almost did for the Caps in overtime in this game when Tom Kuhnhackl hit the post with a shot that ricocheted out instead of in.  Later, overtime ended, not in a thunderclap, but on a play that took seconds that seemed like hours, a play that had its own sense of building anticipation, of Caps fans wondering “is this finally it?!”…

Having slayed their most bitter rival, the Caps were merely half way to a championship.  And, it would not be their last difficult test.  The Tampa Bay Lightning were the top team in the Eastern Conference in the regular season, finishing eight points ahead of the third-place Caps and winners of two of the three games in their season series.

The Caps faced the Lightning twice in the postseason in the past, losing a six-game series in 2003 and being swept by Tampa Bay in 2011.  The first two games called up memories of that first meeting, in 2003. That was one in which the Caps won Game 1 and 2 in Tampa.  The Caps did just that in May, beating the Lightning by 4-2 and 6-2 margins.  With two dominating wins and returning to home ice, the thought of “sweep” might have entered more than a few heads.

That notion was crushed when the Lightning called up their own memories of 2003, taking Games 3 and 4 at Capital One Arena by identical 4-2 scores.  When Tampa Bay won Game 5 at Amalie Arena, 3-2, in Game 5, that 2003 series seemed to be playing out as a video replay.

Game 6 in 2003 went to three overtimes before the Capitals succumbed to the Lightning on a power play goal.  This time, Washington never let the Lightning get close enough to fashion a similar ending.  There was no scoring in the first period, but T.J. Oshie got the Caps on top with a power play goal late in the second period.  Devante Smith Pelly, who displayed an uncanny sense of timing for critical goals in this postseason, provided insurance with a goal ten minutes into the third period.  Oshie hammered the last nail into the coffin with an empty net goal in the last minute.  But it was Braden Holtby who shined brightest and stood tallest in this game, staving off elimination with a 24-save shutout to set up a winner-take-all in Tampa in Game 7 for a trip to the final.

Alex Ovechkin opened the scoring in Game 7 just 62 seconds into the contest, and the Caps never looked back.  Andre Burakovsky scored goals seven minutes apart in the second period, and Nicklas Backstrom added a fourth goal into an empty net with 3:43 left.  At the other end, Holtby was once more magnificent, stopping all 29 shots he faced.  In posting a second consecutive shutout in an elimination game, he became the first goaltender to do so without posting one in the regular season since Earl Robertson did it in 1937 for the Detroit Red Wings (Robertson not only did not post a shutout in the regular season, he did not appear in a regular season game).

For the first time in 20 years, the Capitals would skate for the Stanley Cup in the final.  Their opponent – the Vegas Golden Knights – were an expansion team in fact, but hardly one in performance.  They won 51 games in the regular season and carried a record of 12-3 in the playoffs into the final.  It was a club that did it by using speed, forechecking pressure, depth, and balance over the course of the season.  All were on display in Game 1 in which the Golden Knights broke on top with a 6-4 win.  The five goals allowed by Holtby (Vegas added an empty-netter) were the most he ever allowed in a road playoff game and only the second time in 78 postseason games played that he allowed as many.

That, however, would constitute the beginning and the end of the fun for hockey’s darlings.  Vegas managed only eight goals in total over the next four games, all Caps wins, while the Caps were making Marc-Andre Fleury look something less than his otherworldly self that he displayed in the first three rounds (12-3, 1.68, .947, four shutouts).  The Caps did it in a “team” way. 

• Alex Ovechkin tied for the team lead in goals in the series with three, but the player with whom he was tied was Devante Smith-Pelly. 
• Smith-Pelly had one game-winning goal, but so did three other Caps: Evgeny Kuznetsov, Brooks Orpik (perhaps the most unlikely goal scorer of all, let alone a game-winner), and for the Cup-clinching game-winner, Lars Eller.
• Fifteen different skaters had points in the five games. 
• The point leaders were the players Caps fans have yearned for over the years, strong first and second line centers.  And both did it by spreading the wealth.  Evgeny Kuznetsov and Nicklas Backstrom each had a goal, but Kuznetsov had seven assists, while Backstrom added six.
• John Carlson added two goals and two assists, his four points bringing his playoff total to 20, leading all defensemen in the playoffs and obliterating his own record for points by a defenseman in a single postseason (12 in 2016, held with Kevin Hatcher (1988) and Scott Stevens (1988)).
• Michal Kempny proved to be the deadline deal defenseman to make a difference that Kevin Shattenkirk was expected to be – and wasn’t – last season.  He had a goal and two assists in the series.

And it goes on and on.  One could look at every name on the roster and come up with a statistic or an anecdote describing their contribution to this, the most successful team in Washington Capitals history.

And so it was.  In 43 days, the Caps defeated their most bitter rival and the top club in the Eastern Conference to reach the Stanley Cup final.  There, they faced a club, their “expansion club” status aside, that swept a club that won two Cups in the previous six seasons, beat a team that was a Stanley Cup finalist two years ago (and that they shut out in the first and last wins of that series), and beat in five games a team with the second-best record in the Western Conference.  It was not an easy road to winning the Cup.

But there they were, and on the 44^th day of that difficult road, in their 44^th year in the NHL, they awoke Stanley Cup Champions.